Data center real estate is primed to boom after the pandemic forced lives online

Data centers are primed to set growth records this year, according to a new report from commercial real estate company CBRE.

The buildings aren’t pretty. They’re big, boxy and nondescript. But they’re attractive real estate because they’re essential to how we live these days, housing the infrastructure that fuels everything from shopping online to working from home.

Growth in the data real estate sector is measured in power, not square footage, and demand is on the verge of booming, CBRE says.

“We know there’s already 500 megawatts of new build coming online now, almost 70% of which is pre-leased. And so we do believe that 2021 might be the record year, and then we’ll accelerate…