Summary
- JLL recorded 25GW of North American absorption in the first half of 2026.
- The region has 66GW under construction, with 95% already pre-committed.
- Near-zero vacancy and forward leasing provide a useful benchmark for the pressures emerging in European capacity markets.
North America absorbed a record 25GW of data-centre demand in the first half of 2026, while 95% of the region’s 66GW construction pipeline is already committed, according to JLL.
JLL said first-half absorption doubled year on year and was five times the level recorded two years earlier as hyperscalers, neoclouds, and specialist AI companies competed for capacity.
Vacancy remains at around 1% for a third consecutive year despite the volume under construction. JLL expects availability to remain extremely tight through 2028, with many customers signing today for capacity that will not be delivered until that year.
The figures are US and North America-focused, but they provide a useful upper-end benchmark for the supply and contracting dynamics already appearing in parts of Europe.
Europe has a smaller development pipeline and different power markets, but its largest hubs face many of the same underlying constraints: long grid-connection periods, limited powered land, equipment lead times, construction capacity, and planning or community opposition.
JLL said 77% of North American capacity under construction is now located in what it describes as frontier markets. Texas leads the shift, with 26GW of existing and under-construction capacity, while Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and the Carolinas are also attracting large projects.
The geographic move is being driven partly by power. Projects with requirements measured in hundreds of megawatts cannot necessarily fit into established metropolitan hubs, so developers are moving towards regions where land, energy infrastructure, and planning conditions offer a route to construction.
Europe is seeing a comparable, although smaller-scale, redistribution towards the Nordics, Iberia, and other markets beyond the traditional Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin concentration.
North America’s financing market also demonstrates the capital consequences of that buildout. JLL expects current construction activity to drive more than $700bn in permanent debt originations over the next 30 months.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities linked to data centres totalled $17bn in the first half of the year, up 29% year on year. AI-related bond issuance also expanded sharply as capital markets funded the infrastructure and technology investment cycle.
That financing is supported by unusually high levels of pre-commitment. With 95% of 66GW under construction already spoken for, developers have substantially reduced the speculative leasing exposure that would normally accompany such a large pipeline.
The concentration brings other risks. JLL’s research identified a large gap between public support for national AI leadership and willingness to accept a data centre locally. Electricity, water, noise, land use, and the scale of individual developments have all become more prominent political questions as facilities move into new communities.
Europe is likely to face similar scrutiny as projects grow. Large developments can offer investment and tax revenue, but they also create visible demands on grids, water systems, planning authorities, and local infrastructure.
The North American figures therefore show both the potential scale of the AI construction cycle and the limits of simply adding supply. Even with 66GW under construction, JLL expects vacancy to remain around zero because the capacity has already been committed years ahead of delivery.
For European developers, that pattern strengthens the case for securing land, power, and customers much earlier in the development process. It also increases the value of projects that already hold credible grid positions: once large tenants begin contracting several years ahead, nominal pipeline capacity without a deliverable power path becomes much less valuable than smaller projects that can actually be energised.
