Across North America, the data center build-out continues at a remarkable pace, with roughly 69 gigawatts of U.S. capacity and another 43 gigawatts under construction. While data centers remain a distinct real estate asset class, their expansion increasingly intersects with the industrial sector through competition for land, power, construction materials and labor.
At the same time, it is creating a new source of warehouse demand from equipment suppliers, contractors and service providers. That demand is emerging as the industrial market enters a new expansion cycle, with U.S. leasing activity up 27.1% year over year in the first half of 2026. Whether the data center economy becomes a durable industrial demand driver or fades as the current construction cycle matures is less certain.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- $75B U.S. data center construction spending July 2026, annualized
- 69.0 MSF data center-adjacent large-block leasing Q3 2024–Q2 2026
- 10.1% share of total leasing volume H1 2026
Warehouse demand around data centers is concentrated among companies supplying the physical systems that build and operate them. In Savills tracked leases over the past eight quarters, power-related users accounted for 47% of activity, equipment 30%, cooling 17% and construction 6%. That mix broadly aligns with where investment is flowing: McKinsey estimates global data center investment could reach $6.7 trillion through 2030, with power and cooling representing 47% to 58% of non-IT equipment spending. Occupiers include data center specialists and industrial users expanding into the sector, alongside 3PLs. GEODIS, for example, now offers specialized warehousing, freight forwarding, last-mile delivery and high-value equipment handling for data center customers.