If you’re looking for the perfect site for your next data center, you aren’t alone. Data center land sales were up 141% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026, accounting for almost a third of all development sites purchased. Those perfect sites are getting fewer and further between, and even when you can find them, the price tags are often out of reach for all but the biggest developers and investors.
Thankfully, the perfect greenfield build site isn’t the only option for building data centers. Brownfield land—former commercial or industrial sites which have fallen into disuse and disrepair—offers an ideal solution for building data centers in a land-constrained market. These locations need renovations and upgrades, but they often already have many of the fundamentals that data center builders look for, such as access to transportation corridors, water and utility connections, and enough surrounding land to support future expansion goals.
The potential of brownfield sites has not gone unnoticed. An executive order in mid-2025 ordered the EPA to expedite a search for government-owned brownfield sites that could be repurposed for data centers. Similarly, many state and local governments have brownfield or blighted sites on their hands that they would happily unload.
So, at this point, you may be asking: If brownfield sites are so great, why isn’t every developer from New York to California snapping them up for data centers? Great question.
What Makes Brownfield Data Center Development Harder
Brownfield sites have more upfront preparation work than a standard build. These properties have been vacant for years, sometimes decades. Depending on what was there before, developers may need to remediate any number of hazardous conditions; polluted water or soil, asbestos, and heavy metal contamination are among the most common.
The level of remediation required is not so burdensome as, say, a housing development. The site needs to be cleaned up sufficiently so that the people working there are not in danger before the build starts. According to a fact sheet from the EPA, cleaning up brownfield locations may include:
- Excavating contaminated soil and moving it to another location for treatment.
- Removing underground fuel and storage tanks that may be leaking into the ground.
- Capping the surface with a safe layer of clean soil or geotextiles.
- Injecting chemicals into the soil to break down chemicals, convert them into inert or less-harmful alternatives, or bind them in place.
- Installing vapor mitigation systems to deal with VOC emissions.
- Planting trees and other flora that will absorb and filter contaminants.
- Abating lead and asbestos using specially trained and certified contractors.
Taking the time to do these things is often off-putting to developers, who are under pressure to bring data center sites online as fast as possible. However, these same developers break ground on greenfield sites, only to be put on interconnection waitlists for power, which can take up to 10 years for facilities that plan to rely solely on the grid.
What Makes Brownfield Data Center Development Better
Brownfields might have a few hoops to jump through up front, but they still offer significant benefits for developers and investors—often in ways that greenfield sites can’t match.
The most obvious of these is, of course, cost. Buying a brownfield site may cost pennies on the dollar compared to a greenfield site. The federal government often sells decommissioned military facilities or other industrial locations at auction. Local governments will often sell blighted or brownfield sites cheaply just to get someone to deal with them, often even chipping in on the cost of demolition and remediation.
The next benefit is existing utility connections. For example, some legacy facilities that once had high power requirements may already have the necessary grid connections, existing substations, and water access. Even if lead or galvanized steel pipes need replacement, or power transmission lines need an upgrade, these updates have a much shorter timeline than connecting a data center to local water and power from scratch, because right-of-way permissions and permitting are already in place.
The last benefit we’ll mention here is widely unconsidered, but perhaps the most important in today’s landscape. As mentioned, brownfield sites are hotbeds for pollution. They are also often a haven for criminal activity, a health risk to neighbors as pests proliferate, and a primary driver of declining property values for surrounding areas.
Now, consider the growing trend of resistance against data centers, as residents express concerns about water use, noise, power, and environmental issues. In the case of brownfield sites, community members have most likely been pushing local officials to take remediation action for years. With a careful and responsible build plan, developers have an opportunity here to be the organization that finally steps in and turns a long-standing community eyesore into a clean, safe, functional facility that offers significant economic benefits to the region. That’s something a greenfield site can’t offer.
“Brownfield sites are a problem for the community and an opportunity for data centers,” says Frank Crivello, founder and chairman of Phoenix Investors. “Turning these sites back into useful and productive facilities, including data centers, is something we’ve been doing for a long time at Phoenix Investors. We understand how these blighted locations impact communities and the logistics of remediating those issues while bringing social and economic benefits back to neighboring areas. This capability is extremely important in today’s data center landscape.”
To see how Phoenix Investors can help you find a suitable brownfield location for your needs, please contact us.
About Phoenix Investors
Founded by Frank P. Crivello in 1994, Phoenix Investors and its affiliates (collectively “Phoenix”) are a leader in the acquisition, development, renovation, and repositioning of industrial facilities throughout the United States. Utilizing a disciplined investment approach and successful partnerships with institutional capital sources, corporations and public stakeholders, Phoenix has developed a proven track record of generating superior risk adjusted returns, while providing cost-efficient lease rates for its growing portfolio of national tenants. Its efforts inspire and drive the transformation and reinvigoration of the economic engines in the communities it serves. Phoenix continues to be defined by thoughtful relationships, sophisticated investment tools, cost-efficient solutions, and a reputation for success.
Mr. Frank P. Crivello began his real estate career in 1982, focusing his investments in multifamily, office, industrial, and shopping center developments across the United States. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Crivello assisted Phoenix Investors in its execution of its then business model of acquiring net lease commercial real estate across the United States. Since 2009, Mr. Crivello has assisted Phoenix Investors in the shift of its core focus to the acquisition of industrial real estate and data center assets throughout the country.
Given his extensive experience in all aspects of commercial real estate, Mr. Crivello provides strategic and operational input to Phoenix Investors and its affiliated companies.
Mr. Crivello received a B.A., Magna Cum Laude, from Brown University and the London School of Economics, while completing a double major in Economics and Political Science; he is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Outside of his business interests, Mr. Crivello invests his time, energy, and financial support across a wide net of charitable projects and organizations.