1. Data Centre’s are similar in nature to that of an industrial / warehouse building
2. Categorised in the same planning / zoning designations
3. Site density around 60%
4. Eaves height of 14-20m with plant on top
5. The market is measured on a megawatt (MW)
A Data Centre is equipped with a guaranteed power supply and high bandwidth connectivity. Resilience is critical so redundancy (duplication) of networks, power and other infrastructure (e.g. cooling and generators) is common to ensure continuity. Other facilities include building management controls such as air conditioning to maintain the environmental conditions for the equipment within a specified envelope of temperature and humidity, and security systems to insure that the facility and its data remain secure.
Data Centre specification
- Data Centre’s are similar in nature to that of an industrial / warehouse building and subsequently tend to be located in industrialised locations. Furthermore they are often also categorised in the same planning / zoning designations.
- Typically they have a greater site density (around 60%) which is driven by the fact that they do not require as much car parking and loading areas.
- Height is also key for operators. They prefer to build 2/3 storey structures and often house equipment on the roof. Typically 20-22m is required. Multi storey Data Centre’s (>25m) are quite rare as this begins to impact the buildings efficiency however they are becoming more popular is locations where land is scarce.
- Data Centre’s can vary quite significantly in size and we have worked on requirements ranging from 2,000 – 1,000,000 sq m.
- The market is measured on a megawatt (MW) basis and there are some parallels between the size of the land / building and the power requirements. Power density can range anywhere between 0.5 - 3 MW per 1,000 sq m of building floor area.
Types of Data Centre
- Purpose built private facility for one customer
- Owned or leased
- Facility typically 1-5MW
- Often occupied by IT companies or banks
- Often highly secure with Tier IV redundancy
- The most common form of Data Centre
- The serviced office equivalent
- Operator leases racks or data halls to customers
- Facilities are typically 1-10MW
- Operator is responsible for security and utilities
- Wholesale colocation v Build to Suit v Self Build
- Facility sizes typically 10-50MW
- Develop 3 sites also known as Availability Zones
- Typically, these range between 5 -15 hectares
- AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure
- Highly concentrated
- Hundreds of customers
- Small deal size (5-250 Kw)
- Contract length 1-3years
- Colocation pricing is much higher
- Less connectivity
- Less customers but on a larger scale (250kW+)
- Contract lengths typically 5-10 years
- Colocation pricing is lower
Services for Data Centre
With broader and deeper capabilities than any other company, CBRE is the leading full-service real estate services and investment organisation in the world.
CBRE has over 20 years’ experience operating specialist teams that provide Data Centre advisory services. From consulting to transactions and market leading research CBRE is the only global full-service data centre services provider.

Why CBRE?
The world’s only fully integrated data centre real estate practice, specialising in data centre acquisition and
disposition, consulting, site-finding, research, network cloud and hybrid it services.
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Commercial Strength
Our market coverage, in depth experience and industry relationships ensure that we can negotiate the very best commercial terms. -
Leading Research
Our teams have considerable experience of delivering a wide range of highly respected research projects for clients across the globe. -
Strategic insight
We can help you formulate clear strategic objectives based on our specialist market knowledge and practical roadmap for delivery. -
Complete service
From consulting to transactions and data centre operations CBRE are the only full-service data centre services provider. -
Global coverage
Our unrivalled international coverage ensures that we have the very best data centre professionals available in all the key locations. -
Expert advice
We help clients better understand the impact and costs of data centre decisions and advise clients from diverse verticals and geographies.
Property Types
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Services
Colocation acquisition and renewal
Finding and acquiring colocation can be a complex process, our methodology and market knowledge will ensure the optimal quality and the best price.Portfolio planning, renewals & strategy
We have the experience to inform your strategy and help realise the outcomesyou need for your data centre requirements.Commercial benchmarking
By monitoring transactions, market availability and supply and demand metrics we can easily benchmark any data centre decision.Global framework agreements
We negotiate standard master commercial agreements with global data centre operators, to save our clients time, provide certainty, and agree competitive commercial terms for global data centre rollouts.Market insights
Our extensive market knowledge and network will ensure that you get the best possible value when making data centre decisions.Nasza rozległa wiedza o rynku i sieć kontaktów gwarantują, że przy podejmowaniu decyzji dotyczących centrów danych klienci otrzymają najlepszą możliwąColocation consolidation
Many enterprises have migrated significant capacity to the cloud and are consequently not fully utilising leased space. We can help restructure leases to reduce cost and optimise your estate.Global cloud rollouts
The move to cloud is helping many organisations manage their costs in line with business demand. But global change can be daunting, we can help you transition and scale into the cloud.Global network rollouts
We help network operators acquire colocation by leveraging our knowledge of global availability of data centre capacity. This enables us to negotiate standard, competitive commercial terms for global network rollouts.Benefits
Our Occupier Services team is the world’s largest and most experienced of its kind, with over 20 years’ advisory experience on structuring and negotiation.-
Dedicated acquisition process
Our structured process makes for efficient short-listing of options. It creates a competitive negotiating position and is fully auditable. -
Data centre acquisition documentation
Supports each stage of the acquisition process, including requests for proposals, site scoring matrices and heads of terms. -
Unparalleled coverage and experience
Acquisition for clients of colocation space/capacity in over 150 cities and 50 countries across EMEA, Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America. -
CBRE relationships
We can access all known colocation operators and obtain lines of communication to senior/decision making personnel. -
Best commercial terms
Unrivalled experience in advising on data centre transactions gives us access to the best current market rental and commercial terms.
Contacts
Services
Our expert team can help find sites, provision land and arrange leasing for operators of colocation space & capacity across EMEA, APAC and the AMERICAS.Marketing consultancy
We help start-ups and established operators to create and validate their marketing, sales strategies and go to market structures.Site provisioning
We use our experience of planning regulations to minimise your risk when provisioning land for data centre usage. This enables the development to be quickly sold at a premium.Site finding and selection
Our structured process ensures efficient short-listing of site options within your parameters. It creates a fully comprehensive, competitive negotiating position that is fully auditable.Developer feasibility studies
Finding and assessing optimal locations for developers, reviewing asset portfolios and identifying key sites. Undertaking scheme inspections and reviews, to ensure our clients maximise asset value.Benefits
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In depth asset understanding
We bring an unparalleled understanding of the asset class with a mixture of transactional, operational and consultancy specialists. -
Our experience
We have acquired and sold DC land for operators and hyperscale providers, completing acquisitions in 150 cities across more than 50 countries globally. -
Proprietary information
CBRE conducts extensive market research and is recognised as being the most knowledgeable date centre team in Europe. -
Cbre relationships
Our industry leadership position has enabled access to key market players with whom we have built strong, long-lasting relationships. -
Experienced execution team
Fully dedicated team with a mixture of land, building, M&A and debt advisory experience providing seamless execution capabilities. -
Integrated approach
We leverage the extensive, global network of CBRE professionals to enable you to acquire land, provision it for data centre use and optimise its sale to operators.