Columbus data center market brief

Columbus operates 124 tracked facilities totaling 2,179 MW across all development stages, yet power availability remains critically constrained. Google leads operator presence with 11 facilities, followed by Amazon Web Services with 9 and Cologix with 6. The market's excess-power score of 29/100 signals severe scarcity of available megawatts, while the constraint score of 61/100 indicates substantial barriers to expansion—a combination that reflects both infrastructure saturation and utility limitations.

The AVOID verdict for acquisition-focused investors stems directly from these structural constraints. A constraint score of 61/100 means that securing incremental power for new builds or major retrofits faces material headwinds, whether through utility interconnection delays, transmission bottlenecks, or rate pressures. Capital deployed into Columbus today faces both higher carrying costs during extended pre-revenue phases and lower return visibility due to power-limited ramp curves. For operators already embedded in the market, operational upside remains possible; for new entrants or greenfield developers, this metric suggests capital would deploy more efficiently in markets with higher excess-power availability.

Recent deal activity remains sparse. Duos Technologies acquired Columbus Data Center property for $15 million with an earnout structure up to $15 million, representing the only tracked transaction in the recent window. This modest transaction value and earnout contingency reflect the current reticence among institutional buyers—M&A interest has not translated into aggressive price discovery or competitive bidding tension. Operator consolidation has plateaued; the top three operators control 26 facilities of 124 tracked, indicating fragmentation persists but shows no acceleration toward portfolio consolidation. The absence of hyperscaler-led acquisition activity or large announced expansions further signals diminished near-term appetite.

Investors should monitor whether state-level policy initiatives—including recent efforts to attract data center investment across Ohio more broadly—translate into utility infrastructure upgrades specific to Columbus, as power constraint relief remains the critical variable determining whether this market transitions from AVOID to viable deployment target.