Related Cos., a privately owned real estate giant known for projects such as Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, is planning to raise up to $8 billion to fund an expansion into data centers.
It joins a crowd including private equity giant Blackstone betting artificial intelligence and cloud computing demands will feed a global appetite for the property type.
Related on Thursday officially unveiled Related Digital, a vertically integrated data center development and investment business that already has a near-term $45 billion project pipeline. Related Digital is investing at least $500 million toward the build-out.
Brent Behrman, previously chief sales officer at global data center developer and operator CyrusOne, was named chief investment officer of Related Digital, effective immediately. Behrman will work closely with Related CEO Jeff Blau.
"Digital infrastructure is one of the most remarkable growth categories and asset classes that I have seen in my more than 35 years in real estate development, driven by the unprecedented demand for data centers with reliable access to significant energy sources," Blau said in a statement, adding Related is one of the only data center developers in the market with nationwide capabilities across development, complex infrastructure construction, supply chain procurement, and clean power generation through a partnership.
Related Digital's scope is expected to handle areas including in-house construction and engineering.
Related Digital named to its advisory board industry veteran Bill Stein, formerly co-founder and CEO of data center developer Digital Realty Trust, which has a joint venture with Blackstone for hyperscale data center development. Hyperscale usually refers to developments that can accommodate massive data processing and storage needs for the likes of tech giants such as Amazon and Google.
North American projects
Related Digital's first North American data center project, located in Ontario, Canada, is a pre-leased data center expansion for a “hyperscale customer” beginning this summer, Related said in its statement. A Related spokesperson declined to comment to CoStar News on the exact location and who the customer is.
Related Digital’s near-term development pipeline includes the over 400-acre former U.S. Steel South Works site at 8080 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. The location, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, is one of the largest contiguous infill waterfront properties in the country and includes a new 128-acre campus for PsiQuantum, which plans to build the world's largest quantum computer there, Related said. Other projects include another 500-plus-acre site in Illinois; a 600-plus-acre site in Missouri; and a 115-acre site in Wyoming.
The Related spokesperson declined to identify the location of the other sites.
Related’s data center expansion comes as the growth of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Elon Musk’s Grok has spurred demand for data centers. Blackstone Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman has said “the revolution underway in artificial intelligence” and the build-out of “digital and energy infrastructure needed to support AI” are a key investment focus for the firm.
Besides the Digital Realty Trust joint venture, Blackstone, for instance, has also acquired major data center developers QTS and AirTrunk, which Blackstone has said is the largest data center operator in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The data center industry underwent unprecedented transformation in 2024, driven by historic absorption rates from hyperscale operators and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence,” according to a 2025 Colliers report on the data center marketplace. “Vacancy rates across major markets fell to record lows, intensifying competition for space and power and requiring significant investments in land, development, and infrastructure. … The data center industry continued its unprecedented growth, shattering previous records and positioning itself for continued expansion.”
In North America, third-party operator supply rose more than 40%, driven by “the accelerating pace of digital transformation and the growing adoption of AI across industries, with hyperscalers like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle leading the demand,” the Colliers study said.