Land, Data Centers, and the Cost of Sitting Still
By William Mears, CCIM, SIOR June, 24, 2026
I recently saw a simple quiz that asked:
Which of the following involves interacting with a data center?
- Saving a picture in the cloud
B. Asking a chatbot a question
C. Sending an email
D. Streaming a TV show
E. All of the above
The answer, of course, is E — all of the above.
That is what makes the data center conversation so interesting. Almost everyone uses the technology. Fewer people think about the physical infrastructure required to support it.
I recently spent three days in New York City, and the only time I touched cash was to tip the bellman.
Everything else, hotel, meals, transportation, tickets to a Broadway show that my daughter purchased and we paid her back using Venmo, directions, messages, photos, and payments -moved through a phone, an app, a card, or the cloud.
That little observation is a reminder that the information economy is not coming someday. It is already here.
The “cloud” is not really in the clouds. It sits in buildings, on land, connected to power, fiber, water, roads, and communities willing to make thoughtful decisions about growth. Every email, video stream, online purchase, cloud file, health care record, banking transaction, and artificial intelligence query depends on infrastructure somewhere.
Coldwell Banker Commercial’s 2025 Trend Report, “Land: The Unsung Resource,” is a timely reminder that land is the starting point for almost every commercial real estate conversation. Housing, retail, industrial buildings, medical offices, business parks, and now data centers all begin with the same basic question: Can this land be put to productive use?
But there is another side of the story that those of us working in local markets see every day: getting from land to an approved project is becoming harder.
Some of that scrutiny is appropriate. Communities should ask good questions about traffic, utilities, stormwater, design, public safety, power, water use, appearance, and long-term impact. Responsible development should be expected to fit the community and pay attention to its surroundings.
The problem is when a reasonable review turns into reflexive opposition.
We have all heard the terms NIMBY - “Not In My Backyard”- and now BANANA - “Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.” They are funny acronyms, but the impact is real. Multifamily housing gets opposed because it is “too dense.” Commercial projects get questioned because of traffic. Industrial projects get challenged because of trucks. And now data centers are often criticized before a community has even had a serious conversation about infrastructure, tax base, land reuse, and long-term economic benefit.
Two sites that have been discussed locally for data center development are a retired quarry and the former GM assembly plant. Each tells a different land-use story.
The quarry is a former extraction site - the kind of property that is not easily converted to traditional commercial or residential development. The GM site is different. It is a brownfield, but it is also surrounded by neighborhoods that grew up around an automotive assembly plant that operated for more than 100 years.
That history matters.
This is not a quiet residential area, suddenly being asked to accept an industrial use. It is a legacy manufacturing site that helped define Janesville’s economy for generations. The real question is what comes next. Can a site built for the industrial economy be repositioned for the information economy?
That does not mean neighbors should be ignored. They should not be. Traffic, power, noise, stormwater, public safety, appearance, and buffering all deserve serious review. But there is a difference between asking good questions and simply saying no to anything new.
The information revolution is already here. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, health care records, banking, logistics, e-commerce, and everyday business operations all depend on physical infrastructure. These systems are no longer optional extras. They are part of how the economy functions.
For a city with a former assembly plant and a retired quarry under consideration, the opportunity is not about chasing a fad. It is about deciding whether difficult, underused land can be part of the next chapter of the local economy.
Not every project deserves approval. But every serious project deserves a fair, informed process.
If we want housing at all price points, new places for businesses to grow, a stronger tax base, and productive reuse of land, we have to be willing to say yes to well-planned growth. Land may be the unsung resource, but entitlement is often the gatekeeper.
The communities that understand both will be the ones best positioned for the next wave of growth.
You can read the full Coldwell Banker Commercial 2025 Trend Report here.