AI frenzy hits “warehouse shortage”: the vacancy rate of large warehouses across the US plummeted from 9.5% to 5.4% in one year

The Zhitong Finance App learned that as the boom in artificial intelligence drives data center construction, there is a shortage of large warehouses suitable for assembling data center equipment in the US. Texas billionaire real estate developer Ross Perot Jr. (Ross Perot Jr.) said while recording “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer” during an event in Dallas on Tuesday that there are currently only 15 to 20 million square foot vacant warehouses suitable for assembling electronic equipment and other equipment used in data centers across the US, but usually around 50. He added that in Northern Texas, where Hillwood is building a large AllianceTexas data center campus, only one is currently available.

“America is experiencing an industrial boom, and our warehouses are running out fast,” Perot said. “The scale of the AI supply chain is astonishing; almost every AI supplier requires 1 million square feet.” Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said in an October 20 report that the vacancy rate for Class A warehouses of one million square feet and above across the US fell to 5.4% in the third quarter, down from 9.5% in the same period last year. As a result, warehouse developers' ongoing development pipelines increased by nearly 29% year over year to 317 million square feet, JLL said.

Part of the Perot family's wealth is built on data center development operations dating back to the 1960s. He said the industry has only recently sparked controversy. Data centers have become a hot topic in the US midterm elections. Critics complain about their heavy electricity and water consumption, as well as air and noise pollution caused by large sites; supporters say data centers are the key to the future of AI.

“Nobody said anything about six months ago,” Perot said. “They became controversial, and I think it was a bit like hydraulic fracturing. People were excited about fracking before they learned about it, and now it's a bit like that for data centers.” Perot said the industry needs to better explain the benefits that data center projects bring to their communities, particularly tax revenue. “Once you understand the data centers and the prosperity they can bring to the community, they must be built,” he added. “These data centers are a huge source of revenue for the city.”