As the residential sector continues to struggle with elevated mortgage rates (30-year fixed rate mortgage average is 6.2% as of early January) and supply issues, megaprojects remain one of the dominant topics for non-residential construction concerns. At the heart of this zeitgeist is the remarkable appetite for artificial intelligence and its infrastructure.

Recent 2026 industry forecasts project that data center construction spending will grow by an additional 20% year-over-year (AIA’s consensus construction forecast, July 2025¹. This isn’t simply a volume increase — it’s also an escalation in complexity. The shift from standard cloud computing to generative AI workloads has necessitated a radical redesign of the physical environment. High-density GPU clusters require advanced liquid cooling systems and massive power backups that were non-existent in facilities built just a few years ago².

The increased technical complexity has altered the financing model. Private equity firms and infrastructure funds are no longer just passive investors in real estate; they are aggressively targeting the specialized trade contractors themselves. Lenders and private equity firms are prioritizing electrical, HVAC, and specialized cooling contractors who possess the technical skills to execute these high-spec builds. For a lender, a contractor with a three-year backlog of hyperscale data center projects represents a significantly lower risk profile than a generalist builder³.

In the 2026 debt market, investors are increasingly diversifying into niche strategies to hedge against broader market uncertainty. Mezzanine debt and syndicated loans are flowing toward projects with “Early Works” agreements that lock in long-lead equipment — like 100MW transformers — months before a shovel hits the ground. Investors are favoring these projects because they offer predictable, long-term returns protected from the volatility of the consumer housing market⁴.