Asset class decides it. Equinix NY4 in Secaucus anchors New Jersey equities and options; Digital Realty’s 350 East Cermak anchors Chicago futures and the path to CME’s Aurora engine. NYC Tri-State carrier hotels run $200–240 per kW per month at under 1% vacancy (StackedAI analysis, carrier-hotel market analysis, Apr 2026); Chicago rents were $200–230 in Q1 2026 (CBRE, Global Data Center Trends 2026, Jun 2026). Firms trading both need both.
What role does each building play?
Equinix NY4 and NY5, Secaucus, New Jersey. The New Jersey equities market is a triangle. Nasdaq’s matching engine is in Carteret, NYSE’s is in Mahwah, and Secaucus, home to NY4 and NY5, hosts other equities and options venues plus the region’s densest concentration of data vendors, network providers and counterparties. A firm that wants all three corners from one footprint places it in Secaucus and buys fiber to Carteret and Mahwah. NY5 is the newer building on the same campus, joined to NY4 by campus cross-connects, so the two behave as one ecosystem.
350 East Cermak, Chicago, Illinois. Chicago’s carrier hotel and the historic home of the futures community. CME Group’s Globex matching engine does not sit here; it runs from a purpose-built facility in Aurora, west of the city, where CME operates its own colocation program under equidistant cabling rules. What 350 East Cermak offers is reach: from one cabinet a firm can cross-connect to the providers that run fiber and wireless to Aurora, to East Coast venues, to data vendors and to counterparties. Firms that need the shortest path to Globex colocate in Aurora; firms that need Chicago as a network hub use 350 East Cermak; many do both. The pillar on colocation for trading firms in carrier hotels maps the other hubs.
How do the two ecosystems compare?
| Dimension | Equinix NY4 / NY5 (Secaucus) | 350 East Cermak (Chicago) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary asset classes | US equities, equity options, some FX and fixed income | US futures and futures options; cross-asset hub for Chicago firms |
| Exchange proximity | Hosts venues on site; fiber reach to Nasdaq (Carteret) and NYSE (Mahwah) | Fiber and wireless reach to CME Globex in Aurora; CME’s own colocation is in Aurora, not the building |
| Operator | Equinix | Digital Realty |
| Operator scale signal | Record 9,700 net interconnection additions in Q2 2026; bookings +23% (Equinix, Q2 2026 Results, Jul 2026) | $108 million of Q2 2026 bookings in the 0–1 MW and interconnection segment; cash renewal spreads +25.4% (Digital Realty, Q2 2026 Results, Jul 2026) |
| Regional vacancy | No capacity >5 MW; record-high pricing (CBRE, NA Data Center Trends H1 2025 NY Tri-State, Sep 2025); carrier-hotel vacancy <1% (StackedAI analysis, carrier-hotel market analysis, Apr 2026) | 1.9%, no contiguous 5 MW+ block (CBRE, NA Data Center Trends H2 2025 Chicago, Feb 2026) |
| Regional pricing benchmark | $200–240/kW/mo (StackedAI analysis, carrier-hotel market analysis, Apr 2026) | $200–230/kW/mo in Q1 2026 (CBRE, Global Data Center Trends 2026, Jun 2026) |
| Utility constraint | Not binding at cabinet scale | ComEd delays to 2032 or later; ten-year letter of credit at 50 MW+ (CBRE, NA Data Center Trends H2 2025 Chicago, Feb 2026) |
| Published 2026 cabinet and cross-connect price list | Not available | Not available |
The regional figures describe the markets around each building. Carrier-hotel cabinets in both cities price above regional averages because the value is interconnection, not floor space; the low-latency colocation cost page explains which line items move.
What is the state of pricing information in 2026?
Published 2026 cabinet and cross-connect price lists for NY4, NY5, 350 East Cermak and CME Aurora are not available. Operators quote per deal, quotes vary with the hall, the firm’s existing footprint and timing, and exchange colocation fees are set by the exchange’s own program. A definitive dollar figure for a cabinet in either building is a single deal, an old rate card, or a guess.
What can be said with citations is directional. Tri-State pricing is at a record high (CBRE, NA Data Center Trends H1 2025 NY Tri-State, Sep 2025); Chicago rents of $200–230 per kW per month in Q1 2026 (CBRE, Global Data Center Trends 2026, Jun 2026) put the two regions in the same band; and Digital Realty’s cash renewal spreads of +25.4% (Digital Realty, Q2 2026 Results, Jul 2026) show what incumbents pay to stay. StackedAI benchmarks actual cabinet, power, cross-connect and install quotes for each building per engagement against its own pricing data (StackedAI analysis, carrier-hotel market analysis, Apr 2026) and concurrent quotes from other operators.
What drives the choice between them?
Asset class first. An equities or options market maker with no futures leg belongs in Secaucus. A futures market maker belongs in Aurora, with 350 East Cermak as its connectivity hub. Neither substitutes for the other; the microseconds that matter are those between the cabinet and the specific engine it trades on.
Cross-asset strategies need both. Index arbitrage, futures-versus-ETF and options-versus-underlying strategies need execution in both ecosystems, joined by the fastest available New Jersey to Chicago path, which is bought from specialist network providers outside the colocation contract.
Availability can override preference. With no 5 MW+ capacity in the Tri-State market (CBRE, NA Data Center Trends H1 2025 NY Tri-State, Sep 2025) and no 5 MW+ contiguous block in Chicago (CBRE, NA Data Center Trends H2 2025 Chicago, Feb 2026), the question is often which building has a cabinet in the right hall this quarter. Sublease inventory from firms retiring strategies is frequently the only near-term route into either.
Operator relationship. A firm with cabinets in several Equinix or Digital Realty sites can negotiate across the portfolio, trading term or volume elsewhere for availability in the hub. Neither building is the right home for research compute; GPU clusters belong in a Tier-2 site linked back by fiber, as the GPU research clusters page describes.
Key terms
- Matching engine: the exchange system that pairs orders; its physical location defines where low-latency colocation must be.
- Carrier hotel: a multi-tenant building whose value comes from the carriers, exchanges and counterparties already interconnected inside it.
- Cross-connect: a dedicated physical cable run by the operator between two tenants in the same building.
- Equidistant cabling: an exchange colocation rule giving every participant equal cable length to the matching-engine access switch.
How StackedAI applies this
StackedAI advises trading firms on which ecosystem, hall and operator fits a given strategy, then runs the placement across both buildings and the exchange programs at once so quotes are comparable. The firm benchmarks each quote against its own pricing data (StackedAI analysis, carrier-hotel market analysis, Apr 2026), tracks availability and sublease inventory in both hubs, and negotiates term, density, cross-connect bundles and expansion rights. Engagement forms are described on the advisory services page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nasdaq’s matching engine inside Equinix NY4?
No. Nasdaq’s engine is in Carteret, New Jersey, and NYSE’s is in Mahwah. NY4 and NY5 in Secaucus host other venues and the interconnection fabric that links all three sites. Firms place a footprint in Secaucus and buy fiber to Carteret and Mahwah as strategy requires.
Is the CME matching engine at 350 East Cermak?
No. CME Group’s Globex matching engine runs from a purpose-built facility in Aurora, Illinois, where CME operates its own colocation program under equidistant cabling rules. 350 East Cermak is Chicago’s carrier hotel: the point from which firms reach Aurora, East Coast venues, data vendors and counterparties.
What do NY4 and 350 East Cermak cabinets cost in 2026?
No 2026 cabinet or cross-connect price list for either building is publicly available. The nearest cited benchmarks are $200–240 per kW per month for NYC Tri-State carrier hotels (StackedAI analysis, Apr 2026) and $200–230 per kW per month for Chicago in Q1 2026 (CBRE, Jun 2026). StackedAI benchmarks actual quotes per engagement.
Which is tighter, the New Jersey or the Chicago market?
New Jersey. The Tri-State market has no capacity above 5 MW and record-high pricing (CBRE, Sep 2025), with carrier-hotel vacancy under 1% (StackedAI analysis, Apr 2026). Chicago shows 1.9% vacancy with no contiguous 5 MW+ block (CBRE, Feb 2026): tight, but marginally looser.
Should a firm that trades both equities and futures be in both buildings?
Usually, if it trades both at low latency. Cross-asset strategies hold execution cabinets in Secaucus and in either 350 East Cermak or Aurora, joined by low-latency fiber or wireless. Firms that need only one asset class at low latency keep the other leg as a small connectivity footprint.
Sources
- StackedAI analysis, carrier-hotel market analysis, Apr 2026 (internal; Tri-State carrier-hotel pricing and vacancy)
- CBRE, North America Data Center Trends H1 2025, New York Tri-State market profile, Sep 2025, https://www.cbre.com/insights/local-response/north-america-data-center-trends-h1-2025-market-profiles-new-york-tri-state
- CBRE, North America Data Center Trends H2 2025, Chicago market profile, Feb 2026, https://www.cbre.com/insights/books/north-america-data-center-trends-h2-2025/chicago-data-center-market
- CBRE, Global Data Center Trends 2026, Jun 2026, https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/global-data-center-trends-2026
- Equinix, Second Quarter 2026 Results, Jul 2026, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/equinix-reports-second-quarter-results-raises-2026-guidance-and-long-term-outlook-302838047.html
- Digital Realty, Second Quarter 2026 Results, Jul 2026, https://investor.digitalrealty.com/news-releases/news-release-details/digital-realty-reports-second-quarter-2026-results