Locally based Mark Goodman & Associates Inc. will develop Boulevard Tower East, Chicago's first new building designed specifically to meet the needs of telecommunications hotels. The 500,000 to 750,000 sq. ft. telecommunications/data center will anchor the Illinois Center Project, an 83.5-acre complex in downtown Chicago. Boulevard Tower East will feature 16 ft. clear-height ceilings, floor loads of 250 pounds per square foot with 50 pound overhead loads, redundant cooling capacity, 35,000 sq. ft. floor plates, constant tenant access, and a windowless, secure environment.
Boulevard Tower East is expected to break ground this year and be completed in 15 months. Chicago-based KG-BTE LLC, a private investment partnership that includes executives from Mark Goodman & Associates, is the principal owner of the site.
In Atlanta, MetroNexus LP and Core Location LLC are developing Core Location's second high-tech carrier hotel. Upon completion of building renovations in the fourth quarter, Metro Technology Center Atlanta will have 1 million sq. ft. of leasable space. Located just west of Midtown Atlanta, the area is part of an enterprise and empowerment zone that boosts economic development with grants, loans and tax incentives.
Metro Technology Center Atlanta will offer heavy floor loads, advanced fiber optic conduit systems and a staff familiar with high-tech telecommunications.
The Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds, New York, founded MetroNexus in May 2000. MetroNexus has headquarters in New York and Paris.
Bethesda, Md.-based Core Location also is developing the San Jose Technology Center, a 400,000 sq. ft. telecom hotel in San Jose, Calif., scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of this year.