US data centres become top office construction segment

US data centres have become the largest segment of private office construction, according to Census Bureau construction spending data cited by Data Center Knowledge. April data centre construction reached a $50.7bn seasonally adjusted annual rate and made up roughly 52% of private office construction. The signal points to AI demand moving construction capital away from traditional offices and toward compute infrastructure.

• April data centre spending hit $50.7bn SAAR, taking 52% of US office construction

• Strong preleasing across primary markets shows AI demand still outpacing new supply

The fact

US data centres have become the largest segment of private office construction, according to Census Bureau construction spending data cited by Data Center Knowledge. April data centre construction reached a $50.7bn seasonally adjusted annual rate, above general office construction at $43.8bn and financial offices at $2.5bn. Data centres made up roughly 52% of private office construction. Spending was also up from $39.8bn in April 2025, while CBRE said preleasing in primary US markets has risen from about 50% in 2020 to 80% today.

The Assessment

Data centres have overtaken traditional offices as the dominant destination for US commercial real estate capital. GPUs, memory and now physical facilities are all binding constraints on AI capacity.

What to Watch

Watch whether the 80% preleasing signal holds in primary US markets, and whether power access, electrical labour and cooling capacity start limiting the pace of new construction.