Northern Virginia continues its dominance as the highest knowledge heart market on the earth, in line with the 2023 Global Data Center Market Comparison report printed by actual property companies agency Cushman & Wakefield.
But Northern Virginia isn’t alone in taking the best spot — it ranks along with Portland, Ore. for the primary time. In response to the report, “Portland rocketed from tenth place to sharing the highest of the general standing this yr. That is as a result of fast enlargement of hyperscale exercise within the Hillsboro submarket, in addition to comparatively favorable pricing, sustainability choices, low environmental danger, and extra obtainable land.”
Portland might rival Northern Virginia given the pause in knowledge heart builds in Loudoun County and pending legal guidelines that might gradual the info heart business’s development within the area. Different U.S. cities additionally rounded out the highest ten markets worldwide, broadening the vary of areas to select from and uncovering a world pattern towards extra promising areas.
“Hyperscale tenants continued their relentless enlargement throughout areas, with particular curiosity towards secondary and rising markets. Colocation suppliers and builders have adopted swimsuit,” the report notes. “Established markets have confronted rising headwinds because of authorities intervention and constraints on obtainable energy and land. Secondary markets are anticipated to proceed their development in significance as sure main markets have run into constrictions, with energy utilization and sustainability scrutinized extra rigorously.”
Cushman & Wakefield ranked knowledge heart markets based mostly on various weighted elements, together with fiber connectivity, cloud availability, incentives and taxes, political stability, growth pipeline, sustainability, energy value, land value, and environmental danger.
Information Middle Website Choice: Prime Markets within the U.S.
Atlanta, Chicago, and Silicon Valley all positioned fifth within the international rankings. Regardless of Silicon Valley’s excessive land prices, its proximity to and abundance of tech sector gamers makes it a pretty location for knowledge facilities. In the meantime, Atlanta and Chicago have decrease land prices and a strong knowledge heart growth pipeline. Finishing the record are Dallas in eighth place, Phoenix in ninth place, and Seattle in tenth place, all of that are “reliable stalwarts … with stable efficiency metrics which can be tried and true, but that also retain various choices for enlargement and new entrants,” in line with the report.
The research additionally reveals all however Silicon Valley have sizable incentives for knowledge facilities to construct of their areas. Portland and Northern Virginia examine all of the containers on the Cushman and Wakefield record of information heart advantages, aside from one: decrease land prices.
Trade estimates differ between $1 million and $3 million as the associated fee per acre for knowledge center-zoned land in Loudoun County, Va., which homes “Information Middle Alley,” the best density of information facilities on the earth.
Past the U.S.: Prime Markets Throughout the Globe
Wanting past the U.S., Singapore ranked third and Hong Kong fourth within the high ten total rankings. In response to the report, “[b]oth rank excessive regardless of an absence of obtainable developable land” and “each have robust ecosystems, glorious connectivity, constant demand, and all main cloud companies obtainable and increasing the place doable.”
Moreover, Singapore lifted its growth moratorium in 2022, establishing new pointers to foster accountable growth and encourage sustainable practices. Hong Kong, for its half, stays a monetary hub with business-friendly insurance policies.
Whereas the FLAP-D (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin) knowledge heart markets proceed to be mainstays in Cushman & Wakefield’s European area record, different smaller markets have managed to interrupt in, reminiscent of Zurich, Madrid, Stockholm, Oslo, and Berlin.
What makes markets in Asia and Europe stand out from their U.S. counterparts embrace beneficiant tax incentives, political stability, a stronger deal with sustainability, and lowered environmental danger. Quite a lot of international locations in Europe, as an example, have dedicated to completely renewable vitality and supply incentives not solely when it comes to taxes but in addition for utilizing renewables.
In the meantime, sure cities might be comparatively secure from pure disasters:
- Lowest flooding danger: Dublin, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Oslo, Singapore
- Lowest earthquake danger: Amsterdam, Dublin, Hong Kong, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm
- Lowest twister or hurricane danger: Singapore and most areas throughout Europe
Political stability, specifically, is an important consideration for knowledge heart companies, one which’s provided by European knowledge heart markets in Amsterdam, Zurich, Dublin, Stockholm, and Oslo. The report states that “[a]s knowledge facilities are thought of mission important to maintain functions, networks, and thus whole corporations working at their highest effectivity, the larger political state of affairs of the info heart location elements into any decision-making.”
