Data Center Development Cost Guide 2025

DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENT COST GUIDE 2025

KEY FINDINGS

POWER AVAILABILITY HAS BECOME AN INCREASINGLY PRESSING CHALLENGE IN ESTABLISHED DATA CENTER MARKETS, limiting the market’s ability to meet demand. As a result, data center developers have shown greater interest in emerging and tertiary markets, where power availability is less of a concern. THE WEIGHTED AVERAGE COST OF DATA CENTER LAND THROUGH OCTOBER 2024 WAS $5.59 PER SQUARE FOOT (PSF) OR $244,000 PER ACRE, reflecting a decrease of $0.90 psf ($39,000 per acre) compared to the previous year. That said, average U.S. data center land prices for parcels 50 acres or larger have increased 23%, from $4.39 per square foot (psf) in 2023 to $5.40 psf in 2024 through October. DATA CENTER LAND TRANSACTIONS ARE GROWING IN SIZE. In 2024, the average parcel spanned 224 acres—a 144% increase since 2022. This growth is largely driven by data center developers looking to develop multi-building campuses, enabling phased development and future expansion to reach on-site capacity thresholds amid high demand. BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COSTS ARE STILL RISING BUT AT A SLOWER RATE COMPARED TO RECENT YEARS, signaling a deceleration in the pace of increases.

2

3

Cushman & Wakefield