Pat Lynch

Capital isn't merely eyeing the data center market, it is already pouring in. Along with increased data center leasing activity, as noted last week in a report from CBRE, data center investment demand is also increasing. A variety of capital sources are looking to increase exposure to the market, and more and more players are entering the game.

"There has been an increase in the number of investors looking to add data centers to their portfolios," Pat Lynch, senior managing director of data center solutions at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. "Private equity infrastructure funds have been the biggest driver of investment activity. The funds tend to have a much longer holding period and a lower returns threshold than some of the original private equity investors in the data center space. That is a huge game changer for us."

It isn't only private equity funds and private equity infrastructure funds fueling demand. Foreign capital from Europe, Asia and Canada and large real estate investors also have an appetite for data center product. "There have also been international funds that have invested in the data center space," says Lynch. "Some of the large traditional real estate companies are also making investments and having data centers as part of their holdings."