JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich on the data center construction boom, growth outlook

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 22, 2026 at 12:31  |  3:46  |  CNBC
Speakers
Christian Ulbrich — Global CEO, JLL

Summary

JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich discusses the data center construction boom as a bright spot for commercial real estate. He says capital is not the main constraint; power, land, and water availability are the key bottlenecks, pushing development toward locations with easier legal environments and power access. He also downplays the market impact of institutional single-family rental buying and says housing affordability remains a difficult global issue.

  • Data center spending growth is helping offset commercial real estate headwinds.
  • JLL manages more than 340 data centers and provides facility, project management, design, and capital-raising services.
  • Capital is not the data center bottleneck; power is the main constraint.
  • Data center development is shifting to easier legal and power-accessible geographies, including the Middle East.
  • US developers are seeking industrial sites or other locations with strong power access.
  • Institutional investors own roughly 3% of single-family rentals and are not a major buyer in new purchases.
  • Housing affordability is a global challenge, with high construction costs and no easy solution.
Ideas
Christian Ulbrich Global CEO, JLL 0:46
JLL gains share; data centers help
JLL is a service provider to the largest US corporates, and as those clients succeed, JLL can grow and gain market share. Its role managing more than 340 data centers globally, including facility management, construction project management, design, and capital raising, gives it asset-light exposure to the data center construction boom.
JLL MED
Christian Ulbrich Global CEO, JLL 1:10
Data center demand strong; power is bottleneck
Data center spending growth is a bright spot for commercial real estate. JLL manages 340-plus data centers globally and sees capital as readily available rather than the constraint; land, power, and water are the key bottlenecks, especially power, so development is shifting toward locations with easier legal environments and strong power access, including the Middle East and converted industrial sites.
DTCR MED
Christian Ulbrich Global CEO, JLL 1:24
Power is key data center constraint
The main constraint on data center growth is power availability, not capital. Because it will take time to build enough new power plants, existing locations with strong power access and power supply are strategically valuable, creating a persistent bottleneck for the buildout.
POWER MED
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This CNBC video, published January 22, 2026, features Christian Ulbrich discussing JLL, DTCR, POWER. 3 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Christian Ulbrich  · Tickers: JLL, DTCR, POWER