Disclosed data center sale-leaseback and NNN benchmarks run from 5.8% to 8.5%: about 5.8% for a diversified REIT portfolio (dgtlinfra, 2021), 6.6% for a powered-shell portfolio (Mapletree Industrial Trust, 2020), 7.0 to 8.5% for telco-credit single assets (StackedAI analysis, roll-up workbook, 2026) and 7.5 to 8.5% development yields on 15-year hyperscaler leases (Alantra, Data Center M&A Review, 2024). No brokerage publishes a data-center-specific series.
Key terms
- Cap rate: net operating income divided by purchase price, the yield an investor accepts on a stabilized income stream.
- Development yield: stabilized net operating income divided by total development cost, the equivalent measure for a build-to-suit lease.
- Sale-leaseback (SLB): the sale of an owner-occupied data center to an investor with a simultaneous long-term lease back to the seller.
- Escalator: the fixed annual rent increase written into the lease.
- WALE: weighted average lease expiry, the income-weighted years remaining across a portfolio.
- Power premium: the gap between a data center’s income-capitalized value and its replacement cost, attributable to a secured grid connection.
What is actually known about data center sale-leaseback pricing?
Less than most readers expect. As of August 2026 the major brokerages have not published a data-center-specific cap-rate series, and no recognized research house has quantified 2025 or 2026 sale-leaseback volume or cap rates for the sector. What exists is a handful of disclosed transactions, an M&A adviser’s review and net-lease surveys for adjacent property types, which StackedAI compiles with each figure’s original source (StackedAI analysis, NNN DC Lease Universe, Jul 2026).
| Benchmark | Figure | Original source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sila Realty Trust 29-asset data center portfolio, NOI yield | ~5.8% | dgtlinfra, 2021 | Diversified, pre-rate-rise vintage |
| Digital Realty powered-shell portfolio sold to Mapletree | 6.6% | Mapletree Industrial Trust, 2020 | NNN, long WALE, hyperscale and operator tenants |
| All-property single-tenant net lease asking cap, Q1 2026 | 6.80% | The Boulder Group, Net Lease Market Report Q1 2026 | Cross-sector reference |
| Industrial single-tenant net lease asking cap, Q1 2026 | 7.15% | The Boulder Group, Net Lease Market Report Q1 2026 | Nearest property-type analog |
| Telco-credit NNN data center cap rates | 7.0–8.5% | StackedAI analysis, roll-up workbook, 2026 | Carrier switch sites and leasebacks |
| 15-year NNN hyperscaler build-to-suit, development yield | 7.5–8.5% | Alantra, Data Center M&A Review, 2024 | Yield on cost, not on price |
| Escalators, REIT portfolios | 1.5–3.0% | Mapletree, Sila, Digital Realty disclosures | |
| Escalators, specialist single assets | 2.5% | StratCap, Expedient disclosures | |
| Escalators, AI-era build-to-suit | 3.0% | Hut 8 and Fluidstack lease | |
| WALE at REIT portfolio acquisition | 6.7–9.1 years | REIT acquisition announcements | |
| Fresh sale-leaseback term | 15–16 years | StratCap and carrier switch-site deals | |
| Single-tenant AA NNN lease, public debt coupon | 5.875% and 6.500% | Fleet Data Centers 2026 senior secured notes | 197-month lease, $8.4B issue |
All rows as compiled in StackedAI analysis, NNN DC Lease Universe, Jul 2026.
The absence of a broker series matters for both sides. A seller cannot anchor price to a market average, and a buyer cannot demonstrate it paid market. Pricing is negotiated from credit, term and the comparables above, which is one reason the class trades through specialists rather than at auction, as described on who owns NNN data center leases.
Why do the benchmarks sit where they do?
The 5.8% to 8.5% band is wide because the benchmarks differ on four variables, not because the market is unpriced.
Credit. The Sila portfolio at about 5.8% (dgtlinfra, 2021) and the Digital Realty shell portfolio at 6.6% (Mapletree Industrial Trust, 2020) were diversified across tenants. Telco-credit singles at 7.0 to 8.5% (StackedAI analysis, roll-up workbook, 2026) carry one tenant, often in a legacy facility, and a binary re-leasing outcome.
Term and escalators. A fresh 15 to 16 year sale-leaseback (StackedAI analysis, NNN DC Lease Universe, Jul 2026) is worth more per dollar of rent than a portfolio with 6.7 to 9.1 years of WALE, and a 3.0% escalator adds materially over 15 years against 1.5%. Fresh paper with high escalators should price tighter than the portfolio benchmarks, all else equal.
Vintage. The Sila and Mapletree figures are 2020 and 2021 transactions, before the rate rise. The Boulder Group’s Q1 2026 averages of 6.80% overall and 7.15% industrial (The Boulder Group, Net Lease Market Report Q1 2026) show where cross-sector net lease pricing sits today; a 2020 data center cap rate should not be applied to a 2026 transaction without adjustment.
Plant ownership. A powered shell lease, where the tenant owns the mechanical and electrical plant, carries less landlord re-leasing capex than a turnkey lease and should price tighter for the same credit. The Alantra development yields of 7.5 to 8.5% (Alantra, Data Center M&A Review, 2024) are yields on total cost including plant, which is why they sit above the shell cap rate; see powered shell vs turnkey.
How does secured power change the value?
With North American vacancy at 1% for the third consecutive year (JLL, North America Data Center Report Midyear 2026, Aug 2026) and asking rents of $195.94 per kW per month for 250 to 500 kW requirements (CBRE, North America Data Center Trends H2 2025, Feb 2026), the income a data center commands has detached from what it cost to build.
StackedAI’s Sale-Leaseback Calculus works the arithmetic for a 10 MW facility: at $130 to 150 per kW per month on an NNN structure, annual net operating income is roughly $15.6 to 18M; capitalized at a 5.5% exit cap rate, that implies a gross value of $284 to 327M against a replacement cost of $70 to 100M at $7 to 10M per MW (StackedAI analysis, Sale-Leaseback Calculus, Mar 2026). The difference is the power premium.
Three caveats. The 5.5% cap rate sits below every benchmark in the table and represents a best-case exit for a primary-market asset with hyperscale-quality tenancy. The $130 to 150 per kW rent assumes the facility can support the density that commands it. And the replacement-cost figure is a conventional build; AI-density builds cost more. A corporate owner weighing a leaseback against a clean sale can compare the two on sale-leaseback vs outright sale.
How does the debt market price the same paper?
Lenders have drawn the line equity buyers should follow. Top-credit tenants finance at spreads in the low 200 basis points at up to 85% loan-to-cost; non-credit tenants 200 to 300 basis points wider at 70 to 80% (JLL, North America Data Center Report Midyear 2026, Aug 2026). Fleet Data Centers’ $8.4B of 2026 senior secured notes, backed by a 197-month NNN lease to an unnamed AA-rated tenant, priced at 5.875% and 6.500% (StackedAI analysis, NNN DC Lease Universe, Jul 2026). Where public debt on a single AA lease clears below 6.5%, an equity cap rate of 7.0 to 8.5% on lesser credit is a large spread for the same asset class, and it narrows as credit improves.
How StackedAI applies this
StackedAI does not quote a market cap rate for data center sale-leasebacks because none has been published. The firm builds a comparable set from the benchmarks above, adjusts for credit, term, escalator, vintage and plant ownership, and cross-checks the result against current debt pricing. For corporate owners, it runs the Sale-Leaseback Calculus on the specific facility, with the site’s power position as the dominant input. For sponsors, the NNN DC Lease Universe supplies transaction comps and identifies which owners and channels are likely to produce the next trade, as described on NNN data center lease scarcity and data center transaction structures.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a published 2026 data center cap-rate survey?
No. As of August 2026 the major brokerages have not published a data-center-specific cap-rate series. The nearest published reference points are the Boulder Group’s all-property single-tenant net lease asking cap rate of 6.80% and industrial 7.15% for Q1 2026 (The Boulder Group, Net Lease Market Report Q1 2026), plus disclosed data center transactions.
What cap rate should a corporate owner expect on a data center sale-leaseback?
Disclosed benchmarks run from roughly 5.8% for a diversified REIT portfolio (dgtlinfra, 2021) through 6.6% for a powered-shell portfolio (Mapletree Industrial Trust, 2020) to 7.0 to 8.5% for telco-credit single assets (StackedAI analysis, roll-up workbook, 2026). A single enterprise asset prices toward the upper half of that range unless credit, term and power position are all strong.
Why do data center SLBs price near industrial net lease cap rates?
Because the buyer capitalizes the credit and the term, not the building. A 15-year NNN lease to an investment-grade tenant looks the same to a net-lease investor whether the box holds racks or forklifts. Q1 2026 single-tenant averages were 6.80% overall and 7.15% industrial (The Boulder Group, Net Lease Market Report Q1 2026), and data center benchmarks sit in the same band.
What lease term and escalator does a fresh data center sale-leaseback carry?
Fresh sale-leasebacks are written at 15 to 16 years, against 6.7 to 9.1 years of weighted average lease expiry on portfolios acquired by REITs (StackedAI analysis, NNN DC Lease Universe, Jul 2026). Escalators run 1.5 to 3.0% on REIT portfolios, 2.5% on specialist single-asset deals and 3.0% in AI-era build-to-suit leases.
How does secured power change the sale-leaseback value?
StackedAI’s Sale-Leaseback Calculus shows that a 10 MW facility leased at $130 to 150 per kW per month on an NNN basis, capitalized at 5.5%, implies a gross value of $284 to 327M against a replacement cost of $70 to 100M (StackedAI analysis, Sale-Leaseback Calculus, Mar 2026). The difference is the power premium, the market’s price for a grid position that cannot be replicated quickly.
How do lenders price data center sale-leaseback debt?
Top-credit tenants: spreads in the low 200 basis points at up to 85% loan-to-cost; non-credit tenants: 200 to 300 basis points wider at 70 to 80% loan-to-cost (JLL, North America Data Center Report Midyear 2026, Aug 2026). Fleet Data Centers’ 2026 notes, backed by a 197-month NNN lease to an AA-rated tenant, priced at 5.875% and 6.500% (StackedAI analysis, NNN DC Lease Universe, Jul 2026).
Sources
- StackedAI analysis, NNN DC Lease Universe workbook, Jul 2026 (internal, aggregated findings only)
- StackedAI analysis, roll-up workbook, 2026 (internal)
- StackedAI analysis, Sale-Leaseback Calculus in a Power-Constrained Market, Mar 2026, https://stackedai.net/blog/sale-leaseback-calculus-power-constrained-market/
- Alantra, Data Center M&A Review, 2024 (as compiled in the NNN DC Lease Universe)
- The Boulder Group, Net Lease Market Report Q1 2026 (as compiled in the NNN DC Lease Universe)
- Mapletree Industrial Trust, acquisition of Digital Realty powered-shell portfolio, 2020 (as compiled in the NNN DC Lease Universe)
- dgtlinfra, Sila Realty Trust data center portfolio analysis, 2021 (as compiled in the NNN DC Lease Universe)
- Fleet Data Centers, 2026 senior secured notes offering, public (as compiled in the NNN DC Lease Universe)
- JLL, North America Data Center Report Midyear 2026, Aug 2026, https://www.jll.com/en-us/insights/market-dynamics/north-america-data-centers
- CBRE, North America Data Center Trends H2 2025, Feb 2026, https://www.cbre.com/insights/books/north-america-data-center-trends-h2-2025