Data centers have quietly become one of the most powerful forces reshaping commercial real estate — and the opportunity is no longer confined to Silicon Valley or Northern Virginia. From rural farmland to overlooked industrial corridors, massive data infrastructure projects are redefining where value lives, how deals get done, and what expertise truly matters.

What was once a niche asset class has turned into a multitrillion-dollar investment cycle driven by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and exponential data growth. According to industry estimates cited by The Real Deal, global investment in data centers could reach $6.7 trillion by 2030 — a scale that rivals historic real estate booms.

For owners, investors, and developers, this shift is creating extraordinary upside. For brokers who understand the mechanics behind it, data centers represent one of the most complex — and lucrative — deal environments in the market today.

From traditional assets to next-generation infrastructure

As office leasing remains uneven and capital markets stay selective, data centers stand out as a rare bright spot. These projects are often pre-leased, long-term, and backed by investment-grade users with massive balance sheets. Lease terms can stretch decades, and transaction sizes routinely reach into the billions.

But unlike conventional office or retail deals, data center transactions are driven less by aesthetics or foot traffic and more by fundamentals that most markets rarely had to consider before:

  • Access to scalable power
  • Proximity to substations and fiber
  • Zoning and land use flexibility
  • Water availability and environmental impact
  • Long-term infrastructure financing

In short, this is real estate where energy, land, and capital intersect — and where execution risk is high for teams without deep technical understanding.

Why geography is being rewritten

Traditional data center hubs are increasingly constrained by power shortages, land scarcity, and community resistance. As a result, development is pushing outward — into secondary and tertiary markets, agricultural land, and underutilized industrial zones.

This geographic shift is opening the door for new regions — including areas across the Midwest, Northeast, and select exurban markets — to participate in the digital economy in ways they never have before. It also requires a brokerage approach that blends local market knowledge with national and global capital relationships.

A new kind of brokerage skill set

Modern data center advisory is not siloed. It combines:

  • Land acquisition and assemblage
  • Capital markets structuring
  • Leasing strategy
  • Utility coordination
  • Long-term exit planning

The complexity has raised the bar across the industry. Brokers operating in this space must think like infrastructure advisors, financial engineers, and development partners — not just transaction facilitators.

At the same time, the scale of these projects is attracting a new generation of professionals from finance, engineering, and construction backgrounds, further accelerating innovation within the sector.

What this means for New York and beyond

While many data centers are built outside dense urban cores, New York remains a critical command center for capital, decision-making, and advisory leadership. Institutional investors, private equity firms, hyperscale users, and global developers increasingly rely on advisors who understand both the national data center landscape and the nuances of complex commercial real estate transactions.

As The Real Deal reports, data centers have now surpassed traditional office development in new construction volume — a milestone that signals this is no longer a trend, but a structural shift.

The road ahead

Industry veterans agree that artificial intelligence–driven demand is still in its early innings. At the same time, community scrutiny, infrastructure strain, and environmental concerns are rising — making expertise and responsible planning more important than ever.

What’s clear is this: data centers are no longer a side bet in commercial real estate. They are becoming core infrastructure assets, comparable to energy or transportation in their long-term importance.

For firms willing to invest in knowledge, relationships, and execution capability, the opportunity is enormous. For those that don’t, the risk is just as real.

Source: Adapted from The Real Deal, “Inside commercial real estate’s data center gold rush,” February 2026.