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(Bloomberg) — Warehouse landlord Tritax Big Box REIT Plc is pivoting into data center development after purchasing a site where it plans to build one of the biggest such facilities in the UK.
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The company has bought a 74-acre site in Heathrow, an area to the west of London that’s among the most sought after locations for data centers, according to a statement Tuesday. It plans to build a 107 mega-watt facility by the second half of 2027 and has signed a separate agreement that will ensure the site has crucial access to power, it said.
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Real estate investors are racing to cash in on the AI boom by delivering data centers that are critical for the vast processing power needed to support it. Like many countries, the UK’s ailing energy grid has struggled to keep pace with the facilities’ massive demand for power, meaning there can be lengthy waiting lists for new projects looking for connections.
“This is a decisive and exciting first step for the company in the very attractive data center market which the manager has unlocked with its power and real estate capabilities,” Tritax Big Box chairman Aubrey Adams said.
Tritax has bought a 50% share in a joint venture with a renewable energy company that will give it access to power for the Manor Farm site. The venture has also identified a further pipeline of potential data center developments within the company’s portfolio that could utilize 1 gigawatt of power, it added.
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