The U.S. Department of Defense’s research and development agency is teaming up with the state of Illinois to create a massive quantum computing campus in the Chicago area, a project that could boost the state’s standing as a technology center.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and federal officials on Tuesday disclosed that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, will bring researchers to a planned campus in or near Chicago, with the federal government and the state reaching a memorandum of agreement to spend as much as $140 million each in initial investments.

The announcement of the so-called Quantum Proving Ground partnership brings closer to reality the state’s long-discussed goal of creating a sprawling, cutting-edge research campus in which the use of subatomic particles to store and process information could lead to waves of new technology capabilities.

Quantum backers say high-powered and complex quantum computers will lead to breakthroughs in medical research, climate science, finance, national security and other applications.

It remains to be seen whether the nascent technology will meet those lofty goals and how large a role the DARPA facility in Chicago will play in its emergence as other cities and regions compete for facilities of their own.

Quantum computing could have big implications for the real estate industry if it creates demand for new buildings to house researchers and offices around key U.S. hubs.

Pritzker’s office estimates a new campus focused on quantum research could generate as much as $60 billion in economic impact for the state and create thousands of jobs.

Illinois’ second-term governor has long been focused on putting the state at the center of the emerging technology sector, saying he wants Illinois to become the Silicon Valley of quantum computing.

Pritzker described himself as “a geek for all things quantum" during a news conference Tuesday and said his goal is to make the state “the undisputed center of quantum computing.”

San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, upstate New York and Denver are among other areas vying to establish themselves as the preeminent quantum cluster.

During the event, the program manager for DARPA, Dr. Joe Altepeter, credited Illinois’ foresight in envisioning a major research facility as an important factor in the Chicago area being chosen for the federal partnership.

The Department of Defense’s involvement in the project, first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, is a key step toward meeting Pritzker’s goal. The Chicago area already is home to the Argonne and Fermi national laboratories that house large teams of quantum researchers.

Earlier this year, Pritzker gained legislative approval to allocate $500 million in state funds toward quantum research, including $300 million toward the creation of a new campus.

The site of the planned campus has not been announced, but Crain’s Chicago Business previously has reported that two sites — the South Works site, a long-vacant former U.S. Steel plant site on the city’s South Side; and a former Texaco refinery site in suburban Lockport, Illinois — are under consideration.

The state has been courting companies within the quantum computing space to create research hubs within the planned Chicago-area facility, an effort that could be accelerated by the Defense Department’s involvement in the project. Those companies include startup PsiQuantum and computing giant IBM, according to Crain’s.

The Quantum Proving Group program is part of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative also unveiled Tuesday.

Chicago’s facility is slated to include equipment labs and spaces for private companies and Illinois research universities to collaborate. The facility is also designed to have cryogenic capabilities, creating ultracold conditions for storing and manipulating qubits, or quantum bits of information.

The Defense Department is involved in quantum advances because of the potential for advancing national defense capabilities and because of potential security threats from other countries developing superior quantum technologies.