Data Centers in Demand

One of the niche commercial real estate asset classes to emerge more into the mainstream during the pandemic has been data centers — those sprawling, pulsating receptacles of servers and information. Nowhere more in the U.S. are they a presence than in Northern Virginia. And that doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. Also, while some larger asset classes have taken a licking during the past three years, investors and lenders are still interested in them. Case in point: a nearly $250 million loan for a multifamily tower in Manhattan.

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— Tom Acitelli, Co-Deputy Editor

Northern Virginia Filling New Data Center Capacity Faster Than Anywhere Else in US

Northern Virginia, the world’s largest data center market, notched a record for data center absorption in 2022, according to the latest North American Data Center Trends report by CBRE. Northern Virginia recorded 436.9 megawatts of absorption in 2022, beating its previous record of 311 megawatts, which was set in 2021. It also had the highest absorption rate of any market in the country. (Data center absorption is measured in megawatts, not square feet, because capacity is dependent on technology in addition to space.) “The unrivaled connectivity and infrastructure that exists in Northern Virginia continues to drive demand,” Jamie Jelinek, a senior vice president at CBRE, told Commercial Observer. “Major cloud providers continue to fuel the majority of this growth.” What’s more, NoVA’s vacancy rate dropped to under 1 percent, despite significant power constraints and land restrictions.

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Affinius Capital, Clarion Lend $248M on Manhattan’s The Biltmore

Market chaos be damned. BentallGreenOak and Slate Property Group have closed $248 million in financing for The Biltmore, their luxury multifamily tower in Midtown West, Commercial Observer can first report. Affinius Capital — formerly Square Mile Capital — and Clarion Partners provided the loan, while Newmark’s Jordan Roeschlaub, Dustin Stolly, Nick Scribani and Chris Kramer negotiated the transaction. The Biltmore — at 271 West 47th Street at the corner of 47th Street and Eighth Avenue — comprises 464 residential units atop 47,397 square feet of commercial space.

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