CREFC Releases Updated Data Center Primer Amid Growth and Increasing Complexity in Financing Markets

Second edition examines expanding capital markets, regulatory developments, rising borrowing costs, and power constraints shaping data center investment

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2026 — The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) today announced the release of the second edition of its Data Center Primer, providing an updated examination of the rapidly evolving financing market for data centers and the opportunities and risks facing commercial real estate lenders and investors.

Since CREFC published its inaugural primer in January 2026, the data center financing market has continued to expand and become increasingly complex. The updated report examines the growing use of securitization and secured project bonds, recent regulatory developments, higher borrowing costs, and the power and infrastructure constraints affecting development and financing decisions.

The scale of the market is substantial. As of October 8, 2026, Barclays counted approximately $116 billion of secured project bonds outstanding in the data center sector, alongside $44.2 billion in asset-backed securities (ABS) and $22.4 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

"Data centers have emerged as an increasingly important segment of the financing markets. This includes but is not limited to CMBS, ABS, Corporate Bonds and Syndicated Bank Loans. The sector is attracting significant equity and debt investors," said Paul T. Vanderslice, President and CEO of CREFC. "As the market evolves, CREFC is committed to providing the information and resources that help investors, lenders and other market participants better understand the opportunities and risks shaping this rapidly changing sector."

Key developments examined in the second edition include:

• Expanding financing structures: The roles of secured project bonds, ABS, CMBS, bank lending, and private credit in financing data center construction, completed facilities, and refinancing.
  
  
• Regulatory developments: A July 2026 Securities and Exchange Commission staff interpretation concluding that certain data center ABS structures fall outside the U.S. 5% risk retention requirement, while existing CMBS requirements remain unchanged.
  
  
• Rising financing costs: Higher borrowing costs and their implications for new issuance and refinancing. CREFC tracked $21.9 billion in U.S. data center ABS and CMBS issuance through October 2026, up 7% year over year, although issuance over the latest three months declined 20.2% compared with the same period in 2025.
  
  
• Power and infrastructure constraints: The increasing importance of electricity availability, utility infrastructure, and power delivery timelines in determining when facilities can become operational and begin generating rental income.
  
  
• Credit and operational considerations: Key underwriting questions involving tenant concentration, lease structures, cash flow, technology requirements, and refinancing risk.

"While demand for data center capacity remains strong, lenders and investors need to look beyond traditional real estate fundamentals to fully assess the credit risks associated with these assets," said Raj Aidasani, Managing Director, Research at CREFC. "Power availability, infrastructure costs, tenant obligations, and refinancing assumptions can all have significant implications for a project's economics. Our updated primer examines how these factors intersect with evolving financing structures and what market participants should consider when evaluating transactions."

The second edition builds on CREFC's ongoing efforts to provide research, education, and market intelligence to support informed decision-making across the commercial real estate finance industry.

The CREFC Data Center Primer, Second Edition, is available here.

SOURCE CRE Finance Council