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LAND AND LOCATION: CONSIDERATIONS IN AN EXPLOSIVE DATA CENTRE MARKET
Tom Glover, Head of Data Centre Transactions at JLL, tells us that with the surge in data volumes and the rise of new technologies, the need for strategically positioned data centres will keep growing.
The data centre market is experiencing explosive growth, fuelled by an almost insatiable demand for cloud computing, AI and other dataintensive technologies. This surge is creating ample opportunities within the sector, but there remains a significant challenge: finding enough suitable land for new data centres.
This translates to a considerable global data centre market expansion driven by ongoing and planned developments.
JLL’ s Global Data Centre Outlook 2025 forecasts a phenomenal pace of growth for the sector, projecting a 15 % compound annual growth rate( CAGR) through 2027, with the potential to reach 20 %. This translates to a considerable global data centre market expansion driven by ongoing and planned developments.
The supply of appropriate locations to build further developments is struggling to keep up with demand, with constraints around power availability, fibre connectivity and skilled workforces further intensifying the pressure. These centres are critical to technological infrastructure, and so a failure to find locations for new sites risks limiting further growth and development in areas such as AI.
The capital barrier to entry in the data centre market is substantial, and land values fluctuate dramatically depending on location. As the JLL report highlights, approximately US $ 170 billion in data centre asset value will require construction lending or permanent financing in 2025, underscoring the significant capital investment involved. Deploying billions of dollars on a
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