Data Center Market Continues to Surge

Cloud leasing and growing international interest will remain the key data center drivers (credit: T5 Data Centers).

HOUSTON—Closing out a strong 2017, the global data center market is expected to continue surging for the foreseeable future. Even after a record-shattering 2016, cloud operators are still leasing data centers across all major North American markets, taking around 25% of available data center space in many major cities, according to JLL’s 2018 Data Center Outlook. This year, continued cloud leasing and growing interest from international occupiers will be among the key drivers for the data center market.

“2016 was the year of the cloud, 2017 was the year of international exploration beyond US borders and 2018 will be the year of foreign interest,” said Mark Bauer, managing director and data center solutions co-lead, JLL. “Not only are international companies accelerating efforts to reach the North American masses, but pent-up demand still persists in some US and Canadian markets. While both 2016 and 2017 were banner years for the industry, the market should remain strong in 2018.”