Bloomberg

New York property developer Related Cos., known for its work building Hudson Yards, is betting big on demand for data centers with a new business to invest in the infrastructure for artificial intelligence and hyperscale technology firms.

Related is seeking to raise as much as $8 billion in capital for the venture called Related Digital, according to a statement Thursday. Morgan Stanley is advising on the first phase of that work, with initial capital expected to be committed in the second half of the year. 

The property developer and some of its investors are contributing a minimum of $500 million to the effort, according to the statement. Its first North American data center project is located in Ontario, Canada, and is expected to be delivered to a hyperscale customer starting this summer.

Related has a pipeline of data centers that would consume more than 5 gigawatts of power across the US and Canada, a $45 billion opportunity, according to the statement. One gigawatt is about the output of a single nuclear reactor and can provide energy to approximately 750,000 homes.

The race to build data centers has accelerated over the past few years, with tech giants including Amazon.com Inc., Google and Microsoft Corp. as well as data-center developers such as Equinix Inc. and Blackstone Inc.’s QTS spending billions to develop the facilities. When artificial intelligence moved from a futuristic product to a mainstream obsession with the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, the push to build data centers accelerated.

“What we saw was this incredible demand for data center development by tech companies,” Jeff Blau, Related’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “The demand is so great and we have all the execution capabilities.”

Related’s projects include a Chicago campus that was a former US Steel South Works site along Lake Michigan, as well as other projects across Illinois, Missouri and Wyoming.

The firm has hired Brent Behrman, formerly an executive at data-center developer CyrusOne, as chief investment officer of Related Digital. Related also hired Greg Myers, previously at Vista Equity Partners, as chief financial officer.

The competition to build the data centers that run AI operations has roiled the energy industry. Power companies that provide the facilities with ever-increasing amounts of electricity are rushing to develop new plants and transmission lines.

Certain developers have indicated interest in building data center campuses that consume up to four or five gigawatts of electricity, which is akin to entire cities.

Some utilities have extended the amount of time data centers have to wait for power, putting pressure on developers to ink deals that guarantee their projects have a reliable source of electricity.

Related has experience as a major property developer, having built massive mixed-use complexes such as Hudson Yards in Manhattan and the 78 in Chicago. The firm is also affiliated with energyRE, a renewable energy business.

Related Digital’s investment activities will be led through Related Fund Management, an affiliate of Related Cos. and a real estate private equity and credit investment manager.

Related is vertically integrated, meaning the business can handle everything from development and management to finance, according to Blau. When kickstarting the data-center push, the company sought to line up power deals right away, he said.

“We took this team we put together and immediately went around country, met with utilities and different sources around the country, and found pockets of power still remaining around the grid and tied up that power as fast as we possibly can,” Blau said.

— With assistance from Gillian Tan and Myles Miller

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]]>Related Aims to Raise Up to $8 Billion for AI Data-Center BetPress ReleaseRelated CompaniesThu, 27 Mar 2025 11:00:00 +0000https://www.related-digital.com/news/pressrelease67b7da12110cf104f1b5ac82:67b7daf83c02a93ea80ed499:67e474f18deada550231cd94Related Digital commits a minimum of $500 million to fuel immediate growth and launches an up to $8 billion capital raising effort 

Key leadership hires at Related Digital announced, including Brent Behrman as Chief Investment Officer and Greg Myers as Chief Financial Officer 

Platform harnesses expertise across real estate development and investment, data centers, complex infrastructure and clean energy development to bring differentiated solutions to global hyperscalers

New York City – March 27, 2025 – Related Companies, the global real estate company and most prominent privately-owned real estate firm in the United States, today announced the formal launch and capitalization of Related Digital, a vertically integrated data center development and investment platform. With a near-term $45 billion development pipeline, Related Digital will deliver digital infrastructure solutions for artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud hyperscale technology companies.

Related Digital is investing a minimum of $500 million in initial sponsor commitments toward the buildout of its development pipeline, underscoring its confidence in the platform’s unique position in this rapidly evolving market. To fuel its continued growth, Related Digital is also launching a multi-phase capital-raising effort to unlock up to $8 billion in private capital. Morgan Stanley is advising on the first phase of the platform’s capital formation efforts, with initial capital to be committed starting in the second half of 2025.

Related Digital combines Related Companies’ 50-year+ track record of innovation and executing complex real estate and infrastructure projects with its expertise in real estate investing and developing large-scale clean energy solutions through its affiliated transmission line development and renewable energy business, energyRe.

Related Digital’s first North American data center project, located in Ontario, Canada, is a pre-leased 64-megawatt (MW) data center expansion that will be delivered to a leading hyperscale customer beginning this summer.

With a robust data center development pipeline of more than 5 gigawatts (GW) of near-term power across the United States and Canada, Related Digital has the capabilities, depth of expertise and national scale to help hyperscale companies significantly grow their data center capacity on an accelerated timeframe. Related Digital’s vertically integrated platform, which includes in-house construction and engineering, steel fabrication, mechanical and BMS contractors, supply chain and materials procurement, site selection and land development, and entitlement and zoning, provides a unique competitive advantage and certainty of execution for partners.

“Digital infrastructure is one of the most remarkable growth categories and asset classes that I have seen in my more than 35 years in real estate development, driven by the unprecedented demand for data centers with reliable access to significant energy sources,” said Jeff T. Blau, CEO of Related Companies. “As one of the only data center developers in the market with nationwide capabilities across development, complex infrastructure construction, expert supply chain procurement and clean power generation through our strategic partnership with energyRe, Related Digital is uniquely positioned to partner with major technology companies to execute on this massive opportunity.”  

To accelerate these efforts, Related Companies has appointed Brent Behrman as Chief Investment Officer of Related Digital, effective immediately. Mr. Behrman, a seasoned executive with extensive strategic experience in data center development, engineering, sales and supply chain management, was previously Chief Sales Officer at CyrusOne, the global data center developer and operator. He will work closely with Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau to continue to build Related Digital’s industry-leading leadership team and develop and execute its growth strategy.

“I am excited to join Related Digital to establish the platform as a premier leader in digital infrastructure during this unprecedented period of digital transformation and global expansion,” Mr. Behrman said. “I look forward to working with Jeff and the rest of the leadership team to meet the exploding demand for AI and cloud infrastructure with reliable, innovative, and mission-critical data center solutions.”

The company has also named Greg Myers, previously Global Head of Capital & Partner Solutions and a member of the Executive Committee at Vista Equity Partners, a global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, technology and data-enabled businesses, as Chief Financial Officer of Related Digital. Prior to joining Vista in 2017, Mr. Myers spent over two decades in senior leadership positions, leading investor development, fund formation and capital raising activities, including as a Partner and Senior Managing Director at Eton Park Capital Management and as a Managing Director at Lazard, Inc.

“Related Digital’s vertically integrated business model and unmatched expertise across the entire data center value chain positions the business to be a leading player in the data center space, and I look forward to playing a role in spearheading its rapid and sustained growth,” said Mr. Myers.  

To further its growth and strategic capabilities, Related Digital has made other significant additions to its team:

• Related Digital has appointed its first three Advisory Board members: Bill Stein, Executive Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer of Primary Digital Infrastructure, and formerly Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Realty Trust; Phil Horstmann, Founder of Ascent, a comprehensive data center solutions provider; and, Miguel Prado, CEO of energyRe, a diversified renewable energy company founded by the principals of Related Companies with more than 80 projects and a $35 billion investment pipeline across the United States.

• Related Digital has also added senior team members, including Erik Egger, Vice President of Design & Construction, who joins from Prologis, Inc. and has more than 30 years of complex construction and infrastructure experience, and John Shine, Vice President of Sales, who joins from Compass Datacenters, where he developed their integrated sales program for top technology clients. Related Digital is ramping up other critical functions, including engineering and operations, as it accelerates the execution of its pipeline.

Related Digital’s $45 billion near-term development pipeline includes:

• A state-of-the-art campus at 8080 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, the former U.S. Steel South Works site along the Lake Michigan shoreline and one of the largest contiguous infill waterfront properties in the country, at over 400 acres. This will include development of the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park (IQMP) – a new, 128-acre quantum innovation campus where PsiQuantum, a leader in quantum computing technology, will advance its ambitions to build the world’s largest quantum computer. Related Digital will develop a data center on the north side of the property with 1 GW of capacity.

• Several additional data center projects in the near-term Related Digital pipeline include:

• Illinois: 500+ Acres / 1,000+ MW capacity

• Missouri: 600+ acres / 1,200 MW capacity

• Wyoming: 115 acres / 250 MW capacity

Related Digital’s data center investment activities will be led through Related Fund Management (“RFM”), the national, vertically integrated real estate private equity and credit investment manager and affiliate of Related Companies. The collaboration between Related and RFM will provide RFM and its investors the opportunity to invest in the data center sector through the creation of the Related Digital operating platform.

About Related Companies
Related Companies is a global real estate and lifestyle company defined by innovation and the most prominent privately-owned real estate firm in the United States. Formed 50 years ago, Related is one of the largest private owners and preservationists of affordable housing in the U.S. and a fully-integrated, highly diversified industry leader with experience in virtually every aspect of development, acquisition, management, finance, marketing and sales. Headquartered in New York City, Related has offices and major developments in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi and London, and boasts a team of approximately 4,000 professionals. Today, Related Companies has over $70 billion in assets owned or under development including the 28-acre Hudson Yards neighborhood on Manhattan’s West Side, Deutsche Bank Center at Columbus Circle and The 78 in Chicago. Related was named to Fast Company Magazine’s list of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World. For more information about Related, please visit www.related.com.

About Related Fund Management
Launched in 2009, Related Fund Management is a multi-strategy real estate investment manager that currently manages approximately $12 billion in commingled funds and separate accounts on behalf of public and private pension plans, endowments, family offices, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds. Since inception, RFM has invested across all portions of the capital stack and in all major real estate sectors. RFM is an affiliate of Related Companies.

About energyRe
Founded in 2020 by the principals of Related Companies out of the sustainable construction practices at Related Companies, energyRe, led by CEO Miguel Prado, today has a development portfolio that includes utility-scale wind and solar generation, offshore wind, energy storage, transmission and distributed generation. The company has more than 80 projects across the country, representing $35 billion of investment, 16GWs of generation operating or under development, and 500 miles of transmission.

Press Contacts:

Related Companies 
Natalie Ravitz  
+1 (212) 801-1000 
Communications@Related.com 

Brunswick Group
Alex Yankus and Cara Paley
+1 (212) 333-3810
Related@brunswickgroup.com

By TRD Staff

Related Midwest has secured the green light to build a 128-acre quantum computing campus on Chicago’s South Side. 

The Chicago City Council unanimously voted Thursday to approve the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, a state-of-the-art research campus located on the 440-acre former U.S. Steel South Works site, Crain’s reported.  

The decision marks a significant step in making the city a national leader in quantum computing and innovation, an area that has the potential to revolutionize several industries.

The development, at 8080 South DuSable Lake Shore Drive, will be a joint project between Related Midwest, CRG and the University of Illinois, with a focus on advancing quantum computing research. The first phase will include a 458,000-square-foot facility, part of the larger state-funded research campus. 

PsiQuantum, a prominent Palo Alto-based startup, has already committed $1 billion to the project as the park’s anchor tenant, bringing further credibility and investment to the initiative.

The development will initially create 150 permanent jobs. The project’s scale is set to dwarf Chicago’s other major developments, including Lincoln Yards, The 78 and the United Centerarea.

Local officials, including Aldermen Greg Mitchell and Peter Chico, have voiced strong support for the initiative, recognizing the potential for the park to rejuvenate an area that has faced economic hardship since the closure of the U.S. Steel mill in the 1990s. 

However, local community groups have concerns, urging the developers to agree to a community benefits package that ensures local residents have access to well-paying jobs, affordable housing, and preserved green space.

The broader South Works site, which spans 440 acres, is slated for redevelopment, with potential for 59.3 million square feet of commercial and residential. While the quantum campus will occupy a smaller portion of the site, it is expected to serve as a focal point for the overall transformation of the South Side. 

Federal support for the project includes $140 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which will help establish a quantum-testing facility on the campus.

— Andrew Terrell

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]]>Related’s quantum computing campus gets greenlightMarketScaleEmilie LamoureuxTue, 10 Dec 2024 18:15:00 +0000https://marketscale.com/industries/applied-digital/applied-digital-ellendale-ai-data-center-november-2024-update/67b7da12110cf104f1b5ac82:67b7daf83c02a93ea80ed499:67b7daf83c02a93ea80ed49aIn November, Applied Digital’s Ellendale AI Data Center in North Dakota marked another month of significant advancements. Notable achievements during the month included substantial progress on MV cable pulls, laying the groundwork for the center’s robust IT load capabilities. The majority of long-lead mechanical OFCI equipment was successfully delivered and installed, while ancillary building water services neared completion. Connectivity also took a major leap forward with the arrival of the first fiber provider in the building, a vital step in supporting the high-performance AI workloads that the center is designed to handle. With every milestone, Applied Digital continues to demonstrate its commitment to being #DifferentByDesign, crafting infrastructure that anticipates the needs of the future.

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]]>Related Companies invested in Applied Digital to support the growth of the Ellendale AI Data Center, which nears completion.Squawk BoxEmilie LamoureuxMon, 09 Sep 2024 17:07:00 +0000https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/09/09/related-companies-ceo-real-estate-market-strength-is-segmented-by-asset-type.html67b7da12110cf104f1b5ac82:67b7daf83c02a93ea80ed499:67b7daf83c02a93ea80ed49cOn September 9, Related CEO Jeff Blau joined CNBC's "Squawk Box" to talk about the state of the real estate industry and Related Companies’ key priorities, including the importance of multifamily and affordable housing in America, the rapidly growing business of data centers and Related’s $12 billion proposal to develop Hudson Yards West on top of the Western Rail Yards.

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]]>Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau on CNBC's Squawk Box