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Data center construction is advancing, but demand does not turn into usable capacity automatically. Developers also need power access, supporting infrastructure and approvals on a schedule that works. CBRE reported a record 7,481 MW under construction across its eight primary North American markets in the first half of 2026, yet more than 80% of that capacity was already preleased. For readers thinking about the financial side of the expansion, the key distinction is between announced projects, active construction and capacity that can actually reach customers.
What the latest construction figures show
CBRE’s August 27, 2026 release reported 7,481 MW of data center capacity under construction in H1 2026 across its eight primary North American markets. That was a 24.8% increase and a record for the markets in its report, surpassing the previous high reached in 2024.
The construction total is a measure of work underway, not completed capacity. Nor does it mean all of that space is open to new customers: CBRE said more than 80% was preleased, compared with 74.3% a year earlier. Less than 1,500 MW remained available for preleasing, which CBRE described as roughly six months of supply at the demand pace in its report.
Other H1 2026 indicators point to a tight market within CBRE’s coverage. Vacancy was 1.4% at the end of the period, and average asking rents rose for all major deployment sizes in the first half. Asking rents for the 3–10 MW segment increased 8.3%. These figures describe CBRE’s reported markets and period; they are not a universal measure of every North American data center market.
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Why a large project pipeline is not the same as capacity under construction
Wood Mackenzie estimated the U.S. data center project pipeline at 125 GW at the end of Q1 2025. Its July 2, 2025 report covered projects with planning, permitting, construction or commissioning activity from January 2023 through April 2025. That definition spans several stages, so the 125 GW figure should not be read as capacity already being built or ready for customers.
The distinction matters when assessing claims about how quickly supply is expanding. A proposed or planned project may add to a pipeline without having the power, approvals or infrastructure needed to meet a delivery date. CBRE’s 7,481 MW figure, by contrast, refers to capacity under construction in eight North American markets during H1 2026. The measures differ in geography, time period and project stage, so they cannot be directly compared as like-for-like totals.
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What can hold up delivery
Power access and timing
CBRE says power constraints are extending completion timelines. A building and its computing equipment are not sufficient if required power cannot be secured when the project needs it. The release does not establish a standard wait time or a typical schedule for securing power; timing depends on the individual project and its circumstances.
Infrastructure and approvals
Supporting infrastructure and approvals also affect how quickly capacity reaches the market. A target completion date is more meaningful when the project’s power arrangements, infrastructure requirements and approvals can support it—not simply because construction has been announced.
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Equipment, cooling and delivery choices
Turner & Townsend’s 2025–2026 data centre construction cost index identifies cooling innovation, delivery models, supply-chain resilience, cost, power and water constraints, and co-located generation as subjects relevant to construction. These are project-specific design and delivery considerations, not evidence that one cooling system, construction method or generation arrangement is universally faster or cheaper. The available source material does not provide a comparative study of construction methods or project schedules.
CBRE Executive Managing Director Pat Lynch put the broader issue this way in the August 27, 2026 release: “The challenge is no longer whether developers want to build. It’s whether power, infrastructure and approvals can keep pace with the scale of demand.”
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Where construction activity is concentrated
Activity is not evenly distributed across the markets in CBRE’s reporting. Atlanta had nearly 2,900 MW under construction, making it the most active North American construction market for the first time in the H1 2026 report. Northern Virginia remained the largest inventory market; CBRE reported 467.7 MW of net absorption and 0.2% vacancy there.
Those figures describe different market characteristics: construction activity in Atlanta, and existing inventory, absorption and vacancy in Northern Virginia. They do not by themselves show which market will deliver projects sooner or offer better economics. A sound market comparison needs to keep geography, reporting period and metric consistent.
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What construction cost figures can—and cannot—tell you
Turner & Townsend says its 2025–2026 index draws on 250 experts across 52 markets and provides indicative benchmarks in U.S. dollars per watt. The accessible index page does not disclose the benchmark amounts. It therefore supports describing the survey’s scope and unit, but not quoting a regional cost per watt from that page.
Even when a benchmark is available, cost comparisons need a matching basis: region, project scope and density can affect what a figure represents. The available material does not provide project-level cost comparisons that would establish a universal construction price.
How to read the financial significance without overreading it
- Separate pipeline from delivery. A pipeline total can include planning and permitting as well as construction and commissioning. It is not a forecast of completed capacity on a particular date.
- Look for market availability, not just building activity. Construction, preleasing and vacancy answer different questions. CBRE’s H1 2026 indicators show why record construction can coexist with little uncommitted capacity in its covered markets.
- Check the project’s delivery dependencies. Power access, infrastructure and approvals are central constraints identified by CBRE. An announcement alone does not establish that they are resolved.
- Keep cost and sustainability claims within the evidence. Turner & Townsend’s accessible summary does not disclose cost benchmark values or quantitative energy, water, efficiency, embodied-carbon or emissions figures. Those values cannot be inferred from the survey description.
The available figures describe physical-market activity and constraints. They do not establish construction-company profits, investment returns, effects on household electricity bills or the future cost of digital services.
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