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Data centers boost industrial leasing from support vendors, new report finds
Cushman & Wakefield analysis of major markets found data center-related tenant leasing rose 44% year over year in 2025, outpacing the broader industrial market.
Artificial intelligence and cloud computing are continuing to lift demand for data centers, and a new Cushman & Wakefield report argues the impact is spilling over into industrial leasing beyond hyperscale operators, ConnectCRE reports. The report, titled From Megawatts to Multipliers: The Data Center Effect on Industrial Demand, Jobs and Local Revenue, says data center investment can drive employment growth, regional economic development, and industrial real estate demand that extends beyond construction and day-to-day operations.
Cushman & Wakefield analyzed Atlanta, Austin/San Antonio, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, and Virginia, markets that together include more than 11 gigawatts of data center capacity under construction and over 4.1 billion square feet of industrial product. It found that “support” businesses that back data center development and operations became a meaningful source of industrial leasing demand outside of hyperscale operators, accounting for 10.4% of all new industrial leases between 2022 and 2025 and rising to 14.4% of leasing activity in 2025.
The report also says data center-related tenant leasing increased 44% year over year in 2025, beating the broader industrial market pace. Among the markets studied, Virginia’s data center-related companies accounted for 13.4% of new industrial leasing between 2022 and 2025, while Dallas-Fort Worth recorded the biggest year-over-year increase in data center-related industrial leasing during 2025.