2025 Global Data Center Investor Intentions Survey

Investors Show Greater Risk Tolerance for Data Centers

CBRE’s recent survey of 92 major investors worldwide found that the data center sector is seeing surging demand from companies involved in artificial intelligence development and is attracting more institutional capital.

Investor Confidence Remains Strong

• 95% of survey respondents plan to increase their data center investments this year.
• 41% of respondents plan to allocate $500 million or more in equity to the data center sector this year, up from 30% in 2024.

Takeaway: Capital commitment is still robust, with investor appetite close to the record level set in 2024.

Power Infrastructure Constraints Now the Biggest Perceived Risk

• 2024’s top investor concern was the cost and availability of debt, cited by 59% of survey respondents.
• In 2025, debt availability was cited as the top concern by just 10% respondents, eclipsed by 39% citing regulations and power availability.

Takeaway: The capital environment has improved, while power constraints and permitting delays have become the primary bottleneck for growth.

High-Risk Strategies Dominate

• 62% of survey respondents said they favor opportunistic, new development strategies in 2025, remaining the top preference.
• Just 7% prefer investment in core (stabilized) assets.

Takeaway: Investors are seeking higher yields and growth, showing continued risk tolerance despite macroeconomic uncertainty.

Hyperscale Continues to Dominate Investment Strategy

• Hyperscale build-to-suit jumped to 49% from 31% of survey respondents last year as the top opportunity for data center investment over the next 12 to 24 months.
• Within product segments, turnkey hyperscale is preferred by 42%, followed by powered shell by 28%.

Takeaway: Demand from hyperscalers, particularly for AI workloads, is driving investor interest in tailored, scalable infrastructure.

Rising Selling Intentions Signal Maturing Market

• 42% of investors expect to sell more this year than last, while 28% expect to sell the same amount. 30% said they have no intention to sell.

Takeaway: Some investors may be monetizing gains or rebalancing portfolios, possibly in response to higher asset valuations or evolving risk profiles.

Cap Rate Expectations Stabilize

• In 2024, only 24% of investors expected cap rates to increase, down from 42% in 2023.
• In 2025, 28% expected increases, while 53% expected no change.

Takeaway: Investors expressed confidence in the sector’s pricing resilience despite broader market volatility.

North America Overview

North American data center asset sales fell by more than half year-over-year in H1 2025 to less than $1 billion. This slowdown was largely the result of delayed decision-making by investors due to economic uncertainty, geopolitical conflicts and power supply challenges.

Despite these obstacles, data centers' strong market fundamentals and appeal as an alternative asset investment continued to attract a broad investor base, including those that normally focus on traditional real estate sectors like net-lease and industrial. Fewer direct investment opportunities in the industrial sector further fueled investor interest in data centers.

Investment activity is projected to rebound in the second half of 2025, fueled by the closing of delayed sales transactions and new, large-scale investment opportunities. Robust development activity will continue to drive demand for joint-venture equity and forward commitments for new data center builds.

Notable H1 2025 North American Capital Markets Activity

• Open AI, Oracle and Softbank announced the Stargate project, which will fund up to $500 billion worth of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
• Principal Asset Management raised $3.64 billion for a data center growth and income fund to capitalize more than $8 billion of hyperscale development assets across the U.S. in partnership with Stream Data Centers.
• Blue Owl Capital acquired IPI Partners’ investment management business for approximately $1 billion, adding over $10 billion of digital infrastructure investments to its assets under management.
• DigitalBridge and La Caisee acquired Yondr Group, a global developer, owner and operator of hyperscale data centers.
• Data center CMBS issuance hit an all-time high of approximately$4.5 billion in Q1 2025, comprised of Switch’s $2.4 billion deal backed by three Nevada data centers and QTS’s $2 billion transaction secured by four assets in Virginia and Georgia.
• An estimated $7 billion in CoreWeave-leased financings have come to market in recent months, largely for build-to-suit construction projects.

Strong demand for data centers continued as Neocloud customers significantly increased their take-up, coinciding with record cloud absorption. Power shortages and an acute supply-demand imbalance are causing vacancy levels to plummet and rental rates to rise.

European investor demand remained robust in the first half of 2025; however, persistently high inflation has kept borrowing costs prohibitive. As a result, investment activity has slowed, with a wide bid-ask spread between buyers and sellers.

There is a growing trend of data center operators forming joint ventures to finance their expansion. While some investors are exploring their exit options, a lack of core capital is limiting such opportunities. Improved debt liquidity is facilitating increasingly ambitious development projects and the growing maturity of debt markets will likely result in a more frequent adoption of asset-backed securities as a funding solution.

Notable H1 2025 Europe Capital Markets Activity

• NorthC Data Centers acquired six colocation facilities—five in Germany and one in the Netherlands—from Colt Technology Services totaling 25 MW.
• Principal Asset Management acquired the Connecta Park campus in Dusseldorf, partially leased to anchor tenant Digital Realty.
• Segro and Pure Data Centers have formed a joint venture to build a 56 MW data center in Park Royal, London.
• Arjun Infrastructure plans to acquire a significant minority stake in European data center operator Data4 from Brookfield.
• Fortinet will occupy a legacy facility in Frankfurt that it acquired from Keppel DC REIT for US$58 million.
• Dubai-based operator Edgnex purchased Finnish data center operator Hyperco.
• Apollo Funds acquired Stack Infrastructure’s European retail colocation business, which includes assets in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Milan and Geneva.

Latin American data center investment volume slowed in early 2025, hampered by global economic uncertainty, regional political instability and power infrastructure delays. Despite this, investor interest remained high, driven by surging demand for AI, cloud services and digital transformation. Investment volume is expected to rebound within 18 months, fueled by project completions and large-scale developments.

Brazil and Chile are leading investment destinations, with major operators pursuing expansion and strategic acquisitions. Brazil's proposed tax incentives on data center components aim to enhance its competitiveness and attract international investment, while its renewable energy resources position it as a key hub for sustainable, AI-focused data center growth.

Notable H1 2025 Latin America Capital Markets Activity

• Elea announced Rio AI City, a data center campus project with a capacity of up to 3.2 GW.
• Scala Data Centers received authorization from Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy to connect the 5 GW ramp of its Scala AI City in Eldorado do Sul.
• Pátria Investimentos and Casa dos Ventos are promoting a large data center project in Ceará, Brazil. The $10 billion project will be built in Caucaia and will house services for TikTok.
• Pátria announced plans to invest at least US$1 billion to build and operate large-scale, renewable-energy-powered data centers in Brazil, Mexico and Chile.
• Ascenty will invest US$55 million in a new data center in São Paulo.