Data centre take-up remained robust in 2008 at 1.6m sq ft across Europe, only 7% down on the record figures of 2007, according to CB Richard Ellis.
Take-up was still 131% higher than 2006, CB Richard Ellis’s 2008 European Data Centre market report showed.
Andrew Jay, head of the technology practice group at CBRE, said: ‘The buoyant activity amongst occupiers and developers of technical real estate in Europe during the course of 2008 has defied the global economic downturn and provides strong evidence that the data centre industry has reached a maturity perhaps not previously witnessed.
‘However in 2009, given the constraints in the capital markets, total take-up will reduce and it is likely that there will be fewer of the capital-intensive single-let Shell transactions which have a significant impact on take-up levels.
‘Whilst it is eight years since the dotcom downturn savaged sentiment towards data centre investment and development, the current favourable supply and demand balance underpins the strength of the investment market and has led to an increased profile for the industry amongst real estate professionals.’
No comments yet