Suppliers and firms that support data center operations make up a large proportion of new industrial leasing activity, something backers say is good for the economy.
(Photo Illustration: Philip Robibero / AJC | Source: Getty)
Artificial intelligence and the data center boom are influencing many things across Georgia, ranging from politics and technology to debates over energy, water consumption and land use.
But there’s something else the sector is gobbling up — space in warehouses across the state.
From 2022 to 2025, companies tied to the data center ecosystem leased more than 9 million square feet of floor space in metro Atlanta, the equivalent of six Lenox Square malls, according to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.
Data centers and their demands on power, land and water have become thorny political issues and are largely unpopular with the public. But advocates say the complexes have spinoff benefits for the economy, including tax revenue and high-paying jobs. The demands of data centers have helped fill empty buildings and softened the blow from a warehousing slump.
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Inside the Microsoft Data Center Academy at Atlanta Technical College, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)
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Aerial view of off-grid generators being installed, with the data center in the background, on Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Covington. A data center near Social Circle plans to get its primary power supply from a set of off-grid generators, the first setup of its kind in Georgia. But the company behind the power project is already installing its equipment, despite never obtaining proper permits from the state, a move environmental advocates say raises serious questions about oversight of data centers cropping up across Georgia. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
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Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He’s been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people’s lives.
