For years, much of the conversation about Southeastern growth revolved around logistics, manufacturing, distribution and population migration. A new infrastructure category is demanding attention: large-scale digital facilities that require enormous amounts of electricity, land and construction capacity.
According to CBRE’s first-half 2026 data center report, Atlanta had approximately 2,882 megawatts of capacity under construction, surpassing Northern Virginia’s roughly 2,420 megawatts. That made Atlanta the largest construction pipeline among North America’s primary data center markets during the reporting period.
The implications extend far beyond the technology industry. A large data center campus is also a land-use decision, an electrical-infrastructure project, a construction undertaking and a long-term local tax-policy choice.
Power is becoming an economic-development filter
Most communities historically promoted familiar advantages: highway access, available industrial land, workforce, tax climate and proximity to customers. Data center developers evaluate those factors, but they also need reliable access to extraordinary amounts of power and high-capacity connectivity.
CBRE identified power availability and infrastructure delivery timelines as decisive factors for development. In practice, a site that looks excellent on a map may be much less attractive if the electrical infrastructure cannot be delivered on the project’s required schedule.
That changes the competitive dynamics among Southeastern communities. The winning market may not be the one with the cheapest land. It may be the one that can responsibly coordinate utilities, permitting, community needs and construction timelines.
The housing effect is more complicated than a construction-job headline
A major facility can create substantial demand for construction labor and specialized contractors while being built. Some workers may arrive from outside the area, creating temporary demand for rentals, hotels, restaurants and services. Once the facility is operating, its permanent staffing profile may look very different from the construction workforce.
That means housing investors should not automatically convert an announced billion-dollar data center investment into a forecast for thousands of permanent local households.
Instead, the better analysis separates the construction period from the operating period and examines nearby employers, available housing, worker commuting patterns and whether additional infrastructure investment could attract unrelated industries.
The broader economic opportunity
Equipment suppliers, electrical contractors, engineering firms, security providers, transportation businesses and professional services may all find opportunities around a wave of infrastructure projects. Some of that demand will be direct. Other opportunities may arise because new power and communications systems make surrounding sites more attractive for other users.
But public costs matter as much as private investment. Utility improvements, water resources, noise, land-use conflicts and potential effects on ratepayers need to be considered alongside jobs and future tax revenue.
A corridor, not a single winner
Atlanta’s growth should not be interpreted as proof that every Southeastern county will become a data center destination. The regional opportunity will be uneven. Suitable electrical infrastructure, local approvals, fiber routes, geography, capital availability and community acceptance will shape which locations benefit.
The most interesting question for real estate and business development is not simply where the next campus will be announced. It is which areas can convert major infrastructure investment into durable, broad-based economic value—without assuming every benefit is automatic.
For the Southeast, that may become one of the defining development questions of the next decade.
Sources and further reading
- CBRE, North America Data Center Trends H1 2026
- Urban Institute, Are Data Centers Worsening America’s Housing Crisis?
Charles Sells writes about real estate, infrastructure, economic development, investment, and the forces shaping communities and markets across the United States.
