Add another asset class to the list of property types booming in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Demand for artificial intelligence has turbo-charged interest in data centers, and the Metroplex is ground zero for this development wave.
The DFW’s data center market ranks second nationally, behind Northern Virginia, according to CBRE.
DFW boasted 591 megawatts of inventory in the first half of the year, a 20 percent year-over-year jump. Less than five percent of that capacity is available. Northern Virginia had 2,611 megawatts of inventory at 2024’s halfway point. That’s a jump of almost 16 percent.
For reference, one megawatt could power between 400 and 900 homes for a year, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The laser focus on data center development is relatively new, thanks to the increased popularity of energy-intensive technology, like AI and cloud software.
There were 472 megawatts under construction in the first half of the year — nearly 80 percent of the area’s total inventory. Since 2020, data center inventory jumped 77 percent in Dallas-Fort Worth, the report said.
And there’s more to come.
Dallas-based Prime Data Centers is building six facilities in southwest Fort Worth and the east Dallas suburb of Garland. Construction is expected to cost $3 billion.
Investor Harrison Street paired up with developer PowerHouse Data Centers to purchase 50 acres in Irving for three shell data centers. The first shell set is expected to be delivered next year.
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Increased demand for high capacity data centers translates to larger and larger land deals for building these facilities.
Graham Williams, chief investment officer of data center developer Tract, told the Wall Street Journal that companies are looking for land to support 500- and 1,000-acre campuses. A decade ago, they were looking for much smaller tracts of land, like 15 to 20 acres, he said.