If money talks, then tech companies’ moves in construction this year speak volumes. The top five most expensive data centers to break ground in the U.S. this year all came with multibillion-dollar price tags, according to an analysis by Dodge Construction Network.
In fact, data centers made up half of the most valuable projects in commercial construction this year, according to a Nov. 17 outlook webinar. Dodge categorizes its commercial component as projects within the office, data center, warehouse, retail and hotel sectors.
Taking a more granular look, four out of those five data center starts are located in the Midwest. Major players included tech giants Meta, parent company of Facebook, and Amazon.
The largest data centers to break ground in 2023
| Project name | Location | Month started | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Data Center Campus | Elk Grove Village, Illinois | January | $1 billion |
| Microsoft Data Center (Southern Campus) | Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin | September | $1 billion |
| Facebook Stanton Springs Data Center Phase 1 | Social Circle, Georgia | March | $642 million |
| Sarpy Data Center (Meta/Facebook) Building 3 | Springfield, Nebraska | March | $600 million |
| Amazon Data Farm (Data Center Buildings) | Hilliard, Ohio | January | $515 million |
SOURCE: Dodge Construction Network
The data center boom has been in motion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when homebound consumers created an online ordering frenzy. But since then, the gradual re-opening of the world has done little to slow it down, even as experts predicted that demand would cool in 2022.
Tech giants have done little to dissuade that notion — Amazon announced it would dedicate $7.8 billion toward the construction of these facilities in July. In addition, Gordon Dolven, director of Americas data center research at CBRE, told Construction Dive in August that the sector’s construction surge has been riding the artificial intelligence wave.
However, there are signs of challenges ahead. A report from the Professional Services Management Journal, an architectural engineering and construction data provider, showed that the boom is starting to show cracks. While some experts still see a high level of demand, supply chain issues and power availability are weighing on its performance.
Indeed, in the third quarter, only 10% of respondents in PSMJ’s quarterly market forecast, a survey of architecture and engineering firms, reported an increase in proposal opportunities for data center facilities from the prior quarter.