Data center developers and tech companies are increasingly running up against a growing tide of community and legislative pushback, endangering plans for future expansion of the current CRE wünderkind. 
But major CRE companies are investing now to safeguard possibilities for data center development later. With so-called “powered land” plays, landlords and brokerages are working ahead, getting infrastructure and approvals in place to pave the way for the artificial intelligence arms race.
“Thirty years ago, the constraint was the building,” Hines Chief Investment Officer David Steinbach said. “Today, the constraint is megawatts and entitlements.”