What are the ways to secure datacenter capacity?
There are four common routes. Colocation rents space, power and cooling in a running datacenter. A powered shell is a building with power where you fit out the halls yourself. Powered land is a plot with a grid connection for a new build. Offtake is a commitment to take capacity in a facility that is still being built. They trade speed against control: colocation is fastest and least work, land is slowest and gives the most freedom.
When does colocation fit?
Colocation suits anyone who wants to run their own equipment without running a building. Retail colocation is a few racks or a cage on shared terms; wholesale is a whole hall or suite, often on a longer lease with more say over the fit-out.
The operator handles power, cooling, security and maintenance. You compare offers on IT capacity, rack density, redundancy and the ready date. Our retail colocation and wholesale lease templates show how the terms are usually set out.
What does a powered shell add?
A powered shell gives you a building and a grid connection, and leaves the data halls, cooling and electrical fit-out to you. It suits teams with their own designs, for example for high-density AI racks, who want control without finding land and power. Expect to plan the fit-out yourself and to check how much of the building's power is secured rather than applied for.
When is powered land worth the wait?
Powered land is the start of a campus: a plot, a grid connection that is secured or on its way, and room to grow. It gives the most freedom over design and scale and takes the longest, because permits, construction and equipment all follow. The power status decides most of the value; our guide to secured, applied and planned power explains what to ask.
What is offtake, and why commit early?
Offtake means agreeing to take capacity in a facility before it is finished, often in phases. The operator gets a committed tenant to build against; you get capacity that might otherwise be gone by the time it is ready, and sometimes a say in the design. The risk is the timeline, so the agreement usually ties obligations to delivery dates, as in our pre-lease template.
How do you choose between them?
Start from when you need the capacity and how much of the facility you want to design. If you need it within months, colocation or a near-ready offtake is realistic. If you need a campus, land or a shell is the way in. On AICapacity, one request can ask for more than one route, so you see which kinds of site can meet it.