But major CRE companies are investing now to safeguard possibilities for data center development later. “Today, the constraint is megawatts and entitlements.”Bisnow/created with assistance from Microsoft CopilotPowered land — real estate prepped for data center development — has become an in-demand asset. But energy availability has emerged as a crucial bottleneck to data center development, and states and municipalities are increasingly resistant to the massive projects entering their communities. In Atlanta, the average grid connection lead time for a 50-megawatt data center has stretched to five years, according to JLL. But powered land offers a way for CRE to get involved in the land rush without needing so much capital on hand.