The Phoenix metro is struggling to keep up with data center demand as it tops the nation in construction and leasing, according to real estate experts.
"This is the first year ever that anyone has absorbed more product than northern Virginia," said Mark Bauer, a managing director for JLL in Phoenix."There continues to be some challenges of late with some of the power availability in Virginia, and I think that's where we're going to continue to see Phoenix expand."along high-voltage lines in northern Virginia could make it difficult for data centers to further expand in that state, according to recent reports.
In North America, CBRE Group Inc. research shows that demand for capacity more than tripled year over year in the first half of 2022 as companies continued shifting toward hybrid cloud environments post Covid-19 pandemic. It also said that large hyperscalers are the biggest users, but there has been some activity in enterprise, or on-site, demand.Right now, the Phoenix metro has about 544 existing megawatts of power across 6.3 million square feet of space with only vacant 23.9 megawatts.
"Our construction numbers are going to double," Bauer said."There are several projects that are going to be breaking ground by the end of the year and first part of next year. Most of this product will be delivered by 2024."