With the growth of 5G mobile data services and the ongoing expansion of digital technology into every aspect of home and work, data centers have become a hot type of investment property. CBRE says that in the first half of 2022, demand for capacity tripled year over year. Industrial owners and investors have been looking to get into the sector with their landholdings, which can seem a match in many ways.

"I do recall a time five years ago maybe where I heard the theory that data center use would decline because the equipment would get more efficient, therefore smaller, need less energy, need less space, but the opposite is happening," George Kroculick, partner and co-chair of the real estate practice group at Duane Morris, tells GlobeSt.com. "The demand has increased more than anyone could have thought even just a few years ago."

But even though there is a lot of activity and many existing data centers in the US, the category is singular in some ways. The right ones may well be good investments, but investors have some considerations before jumping into what might prove an unexpectedly cold lake.