Data-center lenders cap exposure after $121.91B year

Bank lenders committed an estimated $121.91 billion to data center properties in 2025, at an average loan of $1.2 billion, according to S&P Global Ratings data cited by Commercial Observer.

CMBS issuance for data centers reached $11 billion in 2025, up 266% from 2024, according to a January 2026 report from the CRE Finance Council. It reached $4.9 billion in the first half of 2026, 9% of the total single-asset, single-borrower market, according to an August 2026 report from CBRE Capital Markets.

The binding constraint for sponsors has moved from capital availability to borrower eligibility: lenders are setting exposure limits by sector, by sponsor and by tenant, according to Newmark's Chris Lozinak. For allocators backing private credit funds, a lender's sector cap and largest single-tenant exposure become diligence items, because they determine whether debt is available when a campus stabilizes and needs permanent financing.

Lozinak, a managing director in Newmark's global debt and structured finance group, said lenders are asking for operating evidence rather than a business plan. “They want to know that the group that they're lending to has a proven track record,” he said, “and that the sponsor has the right people internally, and that they really have a pathway to continue to grow with them.” He said delivering a data center on time and on budget takes deep expertise, and lenders now ask sponsors to show it.

Lozinak said deals are getting larger in 2026, despite macro volatility in the CRE debt markets that Commercial Observer attributes to rising interest rates and higher inflation from the war in Iran. The 2025 average bank loan of $1.2 billion implies roughly 100 facilities, and each one now carries more conditions than a year ago.

Newmark's debt group is working across property types as well; as Private Wealth Daily previously reported, the firm launched a multifamily bridge program on Oct. 22 with a $35 million loan on a 264-unit property in Hinesville, Ga.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a July executive order that Commercial Observer describes as the nation's first statewide moratorium on construction of large data centers. It directed state regulators to create standards for environmental, energy and water-use impacts. For construction lenders, that moves permitting from a schedule item to a credit item: a state-level pause can sit between a sponsor and delivery, and delivery on time and on budget is what Lozinak says lenders are testing.

The lending mix for data center construction has shifted over the past two years from bank balance sheets to private credit shops, according to Lozinak, as banks scrutinize the sector more. Many large private equity or private credit funds have dry powder and are positioned to take advantage as some banks scale back, he said.

CBRE Capital Markets projects continued lending as development projects stabilize and seek permanent financing. The next selectivity test will be takeout loans on finished campuses, for the sponsors lenders have already chosen.