Key takeaways
- "Powered land" means land with a documented path to utility power. The documents behind that claim decide what the land is worth.
- Developers and tenants look at megawatts and energization dates first, then zoning, fiber, water and acreage.
- You can sell, ground lease, option or partner. Each trades cash today against a share of the upside and a share of the risk.
- A tenant introduction is the start of diligence, not a commitment. Any advisor who promises a tenant before seeing your power documents is guessing.
What makes land "powered"
Every data center site is judged first on power. The term "powered land" is used loosely, so buyers and tenants look at the paper behind it. Roughly in order of strength:
| Stage | What it shows | What it does not show |
|---|---|---|
| Utility conversations | The utility knows about the project | Any capacity, cost or date |
| Load or facilities study | What the utility would need to build to serve the load, and a rough cost and schedule | A commitment. A study is evidence to review, not a guarantee |
| Will-serve letter | The utility's stated intent to serve a load, sometimes with conditions | Often not a binding commitment on megawatts or dates. Read the conditions |
| Service or interconnection agreement | A contract for a specified load, with costs, security and a schedule | That the upgrades will finish on time. Track the milestones |
| Energized | Power is on at the site | How much more is available for later phases |
For the full breakdown, including onsite generation, red flags and the documents buyers ask for, see our guide to powered land.
Two numbers are easy to confuse. Utility capacity is the total load the site can draw. Usable IT capacity is what is left for servers after cooling and other building systems. State which one you have. A tenant pays for IT capacity.
Size changes the path. Dominion Energy, the utility for Northern Virginia, says loads under 50 MW can often be served from existing distribution within one to two years of first planning, while larger loads likely need new transmission and a substation, with service staged over time (Dominion Energy). Across the Americas, new large loads wait an average of 5.0 years for power (Cushman & Wakefield, May 2026), and Cushman & Wakefield's 2026 cost guide notes that some land marketed as "power only" will not see power until 2033 or later.
Utilities are also asking more of whoever signs for the load. Large-load rules in Virginia, Ohio and Georgia add minimum bills, long terms and collateral. That shifts risk onto the developer, and it is one reason a site with a signed agreement is worth far more than one with a study.
Considering operating a facility on your property? Build an annual power and operating budget with the landowner cost estimator, including optional solar and separate upfront costs. Missing costs stay visible.
What developers and tenants look for
- Megawatts and a date. How much power, when, and how firm the commitment is.
- Land control. Ownership, a contract or an option, with a clear title and no blocking easements.
- Usable acreage. Enough flat, buildable land for the buildings, a substation, generator yards and later phases.
- Zoning and entitlements. Data center use allowed by right, or a realistic path to approval, and a sense of how the community will react. See which states and towns have paused or restricted data centers.
- Fiber. Long-haul and metro routes nearby, ideally from more than one carrier on separate paths.
- Water. Supply for the cooling design, or a design that needs little water.
- Access and risk. Road access for construction and fuel, outside flood zones, with manageable hazard exposure.
How much land per megawatt? Hines Research uses a rule of thumb of one acre for every three to four megawatts (Hines). CBRE reports site selectors preferring 250 MW or more on 125 acres or more, closer to two megawatts an acre (CBRE Midyear Review 2026). Announced campuses run from under one to more than five megawatts an acre, depending on building height, setbacks and on-site power plants. Check whether a figure counts utility power or IT load: Hut 8's campus needs about 500 MW of utility power for 352 MW of IT load (Hut 8, May 2026).
What drives data center land value
Land near power and fiber in an established market can sell for many times its value as farmland or industrial land. The premium follows power, not acreage. A parcel with a signed utility agreement and a near-term energization date is a different asset from the same parcel with a study in progress.
Cushman & Wakefield puts the average price of powered land in primary US markets at $584,000 per MW so far in 2026, up 51% in a year and 35% above its five-year average of $433,000 per MW (2026 Development Cost Guide). Land is a small share of the total cost to build, but the price per acre is not. Cushman & Wakefield's record of 2026 land sales shows how wide the range is:
| Buyer | Location | Price | Acres | Per acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cologix | Ashburn, VA | $375.0M | 40 | $9.4 million | Feb 2026 |
| AWS | Ashburn, VA | $427.3M | 122 | $3.5 million | Feb 2026 |
| AWS | Manassas, VA | $120.0M | 44 | $2.7 million | Apr 2026 |
| NTT | Mesa, AZ | $300.0M | 173 | $1.7 million | Mar 2026 |
| Digital Realty | Hillsboro, OR | $50.0M | 29 | $1.7 million | Mar 2026 |
| Microsoft | Goodyear, AZ | $131.1M | 100 | $1.3 million | May 2026 |
| Equinix | Hampton, GA | $64.3M | 142 | $453K | Mar 2026 |
| Meta | Johnstown, OH | $52.8M | 132 | $400K | Jan 2026 |
| Digital Realty | De Soto, KS | $475.0M | 1,440 | $330K | Apr 2026 |
| Stack | Danville, VA | $737.8M | 2,990 | $247K | Jan 2026 |
| Tract | Morris, IL | $51.5M | 343 | $150K | Jan 2026 |
Who is buying matters too. Among the ten largest land buyers Cushman & Wakefield tracked, hyperscalers paid about seven times more per acre than land developers. End users pay for certainty and speed. Developers buying earlier in the process price in the power and zoning risk they will carry.
Your land's value to a buyer depends on the power status, the date, the cost of the utility upgrades and who pays them, zoning, and what comparable sites nearby have traded for. Tenant rent frames the economics, but it is one input among several. We do not appraise land, and a site conversation with us is not an appraisal.
Sell, ground lease, option or partner
| Structure | How it works | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Outright sale | A developer or end user buys the land | Cash now and no further risk. You give up any upside from development |
| Option to purchase | A buyer pays for the right to buy within a period, while it works on power and zoning | Option fees now, sale later if the buyer proceeds. The land is tied up meanwhile |
| Ground lease | You keep ownership and lease the land long term to a developer | Recurring income and retained ownership. Lower upfront cash |
| Joint venture or land contribution | You contribute the land to a development partnership | A share of the project's value, with a share of its risk and a long timeline |
| Host pop-up modules | A provider places factory-built data center modules on a site that already has spare power | Income in months rather than years. Smaller scale, and it needs power that is energized today |
| Develop it yourself | You fund power, entitlements and construction, then lease to tenants | The most upside and the most capital, expertise and risk |
Whatever the structure, tie the money to the power. Law firms advising on these deals recommend making closings, option conversions and rent starts depend on power milestones such as a completed utility study or a signed service agreement, and charging for option extensions tied to objective progress (Nixon Peabody; Lowndes). Ground leases for data centers commonly run 30 to 99 years, with provisions the developer's lenders will require.
Take real estate and legal advice before signing any of them. Option and exclusivity terms in particular can tie up a site for years.
How we help landowners, developers and operators
We represent companies that need wholesale capacity. That gives us the tenant's view of a site: what makes it leasable, what a tenant's engineers will ask, and which requirements it could fit. For a landowner or developer, that means:
- A fit conversation. Location, land control, power status and your goals. Incomplete information is fine.
- A tenant's-eye assessment. We compare the site with the kinds of requirements we see, and identify the gaps a tenant or developer will raise.
- Introductions where there is a fit. To tenants, operators or development partners, after we agree what can be shared. We say whether an interest is an inquiry, an active requirement or a signed commitment.
If you already operate capacity and have space to lease, tell us about it too. Operators are a source of options for the requirements we run.
The first conversation is free. Before any engagement we agree in writing who we are working for, and any fees or provider compensation. See how we are paid.
How we differ from a real estate broker
A commercial real estate broker knows land, comparable sales and lease terms. That matters. But a powered site rarely lacks a listing. It lacks a tenant who has said yes. Across 25 years in the data center business, we have built close relationships with executives at many of the top operators. That is the side we work on every day.
| A typical real estate broker | Data Center Scouts | |
|---|---|---|
| Who they know | Landowners, investors and developers | Data center operators, GPU cloud providers and the companies leasing capacity. We run their searches |
| How they read a site | Acreage, zoning and comparable sales | Megawatts, energization date, fiber and cooling. What a tenant's engineers check first |
| Fiber and network | Usually outside the scope | We map the fiber providers at or near the site and can quote network service |
| Exclusivity | Often asks for an exclusive listing | We do not ask for one. You keep your other options open |
| After the introduction | Focused on the transaction | We stay through diligence and find out why a tenant is slow to sign |
Many brokers are excellent, and some deals use both. When a transaction needs a licensed real estate broker, we work alongside one.
Discuss your site or development
Start with what you know. An advisor replies within one business day.
Frequently asked questions
How do I sell land to a data center developer?
Start with the power story. Talk to your utility about the load it could serve and the study process, confirm your zoning, and gather the site facts developers ask for. Then bring the site to developers, operators or an advisor with tenant relationships. A documented path to power widens the buyer pool more than anything else you can do.
How many acres does a data center need?
It depends on the megawatts, building height, setbacks and room for the substation, generators and later phases. Rules of thumb run from about two to four megawatts per acre, and large AI campuses often look for 125 acres or more. Developers size a site around its power first, then check that the acreage can hold it.
Can I talk to you before my power study is complete?
Yes. Tell us what is confirmed and what is still being studied. We will not present prospective power as committed capacity to anyone.
Can you help with more than one site?
Yes. We can discuss a portfolio of sites at different stages and which ones to prioritize.
Sources
- Cushman & Wakefield, 2026 Data Center Development Cost Guide, September 2026; Americas Data Center Update H1 2026; 2026 Global Data Center Market Comparison.
- Dominion Energy, data center service requests.
- Hines Research, Power play: powered land.
- CBRE, US Real Estate Market Outlook Midyear Review 2026: Data Centers.
- Nixon Peabody, Energy-first strategies for data center real estate development, November 18, 2025.
- Lowndes, Beyond price per acre: a landowner's guide, March 16, 2026.
- Hut 8, Beacon Point lease announcement, May 6, 2026.
Per-acre prices are our arithmetic from the published sale prices and acreage. Nothing on this page is an appraisal or legal advice.