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Data centre construction cost is usually quoted per megawatt, but a per-MW number is useful only when its scope is explicit. For a global, single-tenant, 50 MW, air-cooled shell-and-core facility, JLL reports an average of $10.7 million per MW for 2025 and forecasts $11.3 million per MW for 2026. Those figures exclude land and active IT equipment; AI tenant technology fit-out can add up to $25 million per MW as a separate scope.
This guide shows what those benchmarks cover, why a real project can move materially above or below them, how to build an estimate that survives design development, and which cost and schedule risks need attention before a site or budget is committed.
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How much does it cost to build a data centre?
A credible early answer is a range tied to a defined estimate boundary, not one universal price. Published benchmarks differ by year, geography, building configuration, cooling system, capacity basis and responsibility for buying mechanical and electrical equipment.
JLL’s 2026 Global Data Center Outlook places the average global shell-and-core cost for a single-tenant, 50 MW, air-cooled facility at $7.7 million per MW in 2020, $10.7 million per MW in 2025 and a forecast $11.3 million per MW in 2026. The report excludes land acquisition and active IT equipment. Its separate estimate for tenant technology fit-out in AI infrastructure reaches up to $25 million per MW; that is not an amount to add casually to the shell-and-core figure because it represents a different scope.
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For a simple illustration, multiplying the JLL 2025 benchmark by 50 MW gives $535 million, while the 2026 forecast gives $565 million. These are arithmetic applications of the published benchmark, not a quotation for a particular site. Utility upgrades, land, professional fees, finance, taxes, contingencies and IT hardware may sit outside the benchmark.
Published benchmarks (as reported in November 2026)
| Source and figure | Year and geography | Cost boundary and assumptions | Important exclusions or cautions |
|---|---|---|---|
| JLL: $7.7 million/MW | 2020, global average | Shell and core; single-tenant, 50 MW, air-cooled basis | Land and active IT equipment excluded |
| JLL: $10.7 million/MW | 2025, global average | Same shell-and-core basis | Not a complete delivered or operational project cost |
| JLL: $11.3 million/MW | 2026 forecast, global average | Same shell-and-core basis | Forecast, not a tender price; land and active IT excluded |
| JLL: up to $25 million/MW | 2026 report, AI tenant fit-out | Tenant technology fit-out for AI infrastructure | Separate fit-out scope; do not blend with shell-and-core without defining both |
| Currie & Brown: $5.6m, $6.7m, $7.4m, $8.3m, $8.8m/MW | U.S., 2019–2023 | Benchmark series for the U.S. construction market | Rough order-of-magnitude starting point; location, efficiency and procurement responsibility change the result |
| Currie & Brown: $9.2 million/MW | U.S., 2024 predicted | Continuation of the same benchmark series | Prediction, not a project-specific offer |
| Turner & Townsend: 5.5% increase in cost per watt | 2025, traditional air-cooled facilities | Index movement for traditional cloud-based, air-cooled construction | Does not price a complete facility; the report notes a shift toward liquid-cooled AI sites |
Prices checked November 2026.
The Currie & Brown figures come from its U.S. construction market benchmark analysis. They are useful for checking the order of magnitude of a U.S. concept, but should not be substituted for a current estimate in another country or for a different technical brief. Turner & Townsend’s 2025 supply-chain report provides context for cost escalation in traditional air-cooled construction rather than a universal per-MW price.
What does a per-megawatt data centre estimate include?
Before comparing any number, write the estimate boundary in one sentence. A practical boundary schedule separates the project into layers so that an apparently cheap benchmark cannot hide costs that another estimate includes.
| Layer | Typical questions to answer |
|---|---|
| Land and site | Is land purchase or lease included? What are the costs of surveys, remediation, access roads, drainage, security perimeter and enabling works? |
| Utility and grid connection | Does the estimate include the utility-side substation, connection charges, incoming feeders, easements and any network reinforcement? |
| Shell and core | Are the structure, envelope, roofs, fire compartments, basic internal areas and permanent building services included? |
| Mechanical and electrical fit-out | Which chillers, air handlers, pumps, generators, UPS systems, switchgear, busways, fuel systems, controls and fire-protection systems are included? |
| Tenant technology fit-out | Are racks, high-density power distribution, liquid-cooling loops, manifolds and tenant-specific systems included, and who procures them? |
| Active IT equipment | Are servers, storage, networking and other energized IT assets included? JLL’s shell-and-core benchmark excludes them. |
| Soft costs and completion | Are design fees, project management, permitting, commissioning, legal costs, financing, insurance, taxes, spare parts and operational-readiness work included? |
Currie & Brown specifically identifies location, design efficiency and whether the owner or contractor procures mechanical and electrical equipment as variables in the estimate. Put those decisions in the cost plan rather than leaving them as assumptions hidden in a headline rate.
Why do data centre costs vary so widely?
How does site power affect the budget?
Power availability can determine both whether a site is viable and how much enabling infrastructure it needs. JLL identifies speed to power as the primary site-selection criterion, ahead of community support, latency and customer proximity. A site with an available connection and clear delivery date can therefore be more valuable than land with a lower purchase price but uncertain grid capacity.
At concept stage, document the requested capacity, voltage, redundancy arrangement, connection point, utility scope and expected energisation date. Treat a utility upgrade, new substation or long transmission route as a separate work package until its cost and programme are confirmed. Do not present a shell-and-core benchmark as though it includes those network works.
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How do cooling and rack density change construction cost?
JLL’s comparison places liquid-cooled facilities at a 10% construction-cost premium to its air-cooled benchmark. The premium is a comparison under the report’s assumptions, not a rule that applies to every liquid-cooled design. High-density AI deployments also move substantial cost into the tenant technology fit-out, which JLL says can reach up to $25 million per MW.
Model at least two technical cases when the workload is not fixed: an air-cooled case and a high-density liquid-cooled case. State the assumed rack density, heat-rejection method, redundancy, water strategy and tenant equipment boundary for each. This prevents an air-cooled shell estimate from being mistaken for the cost of an AI-ready deployment.
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How do location and building configuration affect the number?
Labour rates, logistics, climate, taxes, seismic requirements, planning conditions and local supply all vary by location. JLL’s market tables show differences among major markets, and its assumptions add 20% to construction cost for multistory facilities in the Americas. Currie & Brown likewise lists location as a key cost factor.
Compare sites on a consistent basis: same capacity, same redundancy, same cooling approach, same building height and same scope boundary. A multistory urban solution and a single-story campus solution should not be ranked by applying one undifferentiated per-MW rate.
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The party buying long-lead mechanical and electrical equipment changes both the price and the risk carried in the construction contract. If the owner purchases generators, UPS units or chillers directly, the contractor’s price may look lower while owner-held procurement, design coordination, storage, warranties and installation interfaces remain to be budgeted.
Create a responsibility matrix that names the buyer, designer, installer, commissioning authority and warranty holder for every major system. Reconcile that matrix with each bid’s inclusions and exclusions before comparing totals.
How do labour and lead times affect cost and schedule?
JLL reports extended lead times and limited skilled-trade availability as continuing cost pressures. Currie & Brown highlights electricians and equipment lead times as risks, while Turner & Townsend describes supply-chain strain associated with the AI data-centre expansion.
Price escalation is only one consequence. A delayed transformer, generator or switchgear package can move the energisation date, extend site overheads and force temporary storage or resequencing. Record a required-on-site date and a procurement status for each long-lead item from the first cost plan.
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The following sequence produces a more defensible order-of-magnitude estimate than multiplying a desired capacity by a generic rate.
- Define the capacity basis. State the planned capacity, phasing, redundancy topology and whether the MW basis refers to the facility or the tenant IT load. Keep the same basis in every option.
- Write the scope boundary. List land, site works, utility connection, shell and core, MEP fit-out, tenant technology and active IT equipment as separate lines. Mark each item as included, excluded or allowance.
- Confirm the site and power case. Obtain written information on available capacity, connection milestones, easements, outages, water constraints, access and planning conditions. Speed to power is a decision variable, not a footnote.
- Select a benchmark with matching assumptions. Use JLL’s global shell-and-core rate only for a comparable 50 MW, single-tenant, air-cooled concept. Use the Currie & Brown series as a U.S. order-of-magnitude check, not as a universal price.
- Build a quantity-led elemental plan. Break the benchmark into civil, structural, architectural, electrical, mechanical, controls, security, fire protection, commissioning and soft-cost sections. Replace allowances with quantities and supplier budget quotes as the design matures.
- Run explicit option cases. Compare air versus liquid cooling, single-story versus multistory, phased versus full build-out, and owner- versus contractor-procured equipment. Keep scope and capacity constant while changing one assumption at a time.
- Log risks and dates. Add a risk register for grid connection, permits, labour, transformers, generators, switchgear, cooling equipment, logistics and commissioning. Assign an owner and decision date to each risk rather than hiding it in an unexplained contingency.
- Validate with project-specific evidence. Ask a cost consultant, utility, designer and key equipment suppliers to challenge the assumptions. Currie & Brown describes its published series as a rough starting point; it is not a substitute for site-specific validation.
Which cost-control actions are defensible at concept stage?
The benchmark sources do not quantify a guaranteed saving from a particular tactic. Cost control should therefore be described as reducing uncertainty, avoiding rework and improving comparability—not as a promised percentage reduction.
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- Choose power-first sites. Screen connection capacity and delivery dates before spending heavily on detailed design. A lower-cost parcel with no credible power path is not a lower-cost project.
- Freeze the scope dictionary. Use one definition for shell and core, one for MEP fit-out and one for tenant technology. Require every estimate and bid to map to those definitions.
- Standardise where the brief allows. Repeatable room modules, equipment schedules and control sequences can reduce design interfaces and make supplier quotations easier to compare. Confirm that standardisation fits the local code and workload.
- Procure long-lead equipment early. Track transformers, switchgear, generators, UPS equipment, chillers and specialist cooling components against required-on-site dates. Early action manages schedule exposure; it does not guarantee a lower purchase price.
- Separate density decisions from the base building. Keep tenant AI fit-out as an option or separate package when the customer load is uncertain. This avoids overbuilding liquid-cooling infrastructure in a low-density phase while preserving a priced path to upgrade.
- Test configuration alternatives. Price single-story and multistory layouts with their actual structural, logistics and fire-protection consequences. JLL’s 20% multistory assumption for the Americas shows why a configuration change cannot be treated as cosmetic.
- Align procurement responsibility. Decide who buys, owns and warranties each major package. Reconcile direct purchases, contractor mark-ups, storage, installation and commissioning so that savings are not merely moved between columns.
- Commission the design in stages. Use formal design reviews to remove duplicate scope and unresolved interfaces before tender. Record each change in the estimate revision log so that cost movement is explainable.
What should a data centre cost plan contain?
A useful cost plan lets an executive see the total while allowing the project team to trace every allowance. At minimum, include these sections:
- Land, legal acquisition and site investigations.
- Enabling works, demolition, remediation, earthworks, roads, drainage and landscaping.
- Utility connection, substations, incoming feeders and owner-furnished network works.
- Structure, envelope, roofs, internal partitions, loading areas and fire compartments.
- Electrical generation and distribution: generators, fuel systems, UPS, batteries, switchgear, transformers, busways, cabling and earthing.
- Mechanical systems: chillers, heat rejection, air handling, pumps, pipework, controls and, where applicable, liquid-cooling distribution.
- Fire detection and suppression, security, monitoring, communications and building-management systems.
- Tenant fit-out, racks, high-density distribution and active IT equipment, each clearly marked as included or excluded.
- Design, surveys, permits, project management, commissioning, integrated systems testing, training, spares, insurance, finance, taxes and contingency.
Show the estimate in both total dollars and dollars per MW, but never show the rate without the capacity, date, currency, geography, cooling assumption and exclusions beside it. Include a version date and identify whether each line is a firm quotation, budget quotation, quantity-based estimate or allowance.
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How should teams compare competing estimates or bids?
Normalise the submissions before selecting the apparent low price. First align capacity and phasing, then map every inclusion and exclusion to the same scope dictionary. Next compare schedule, equipment lead times, commissioning obligations, warranties, liquidated damages and owner-supplied packages—not just the construction subtotal.
Use a reconciliation table with columns for bidder price, owner-furnished equipment, utility work, design fees, taxes, escalation, contingency and completion obligations. If one bidder carries a generator package and another assumes owner supply, their totals are not comparable until the package is placed in the same column.
Finally, compare programme risk. A bid that reaches mechanical completion earlier may reduce temporary facilities and financing exposure, while a lower bid with unverified equipment dates can create expensive delay. Treat the programme as part of the cost case, especially where skilled trades and electrical equipment are constrained.
What are the most common budgeting mistakes?
Using a per-MW rate without its boundary
Why it fails: shell and core, powered facility, tenant fit-out and active IT are different totals.
Recovery: restate the benchmark with year, geography, capacity, cooling, configuration and exclusions, then rebuild the comparison on one boundary.
Adding the AI fit-out figure to shell and core automatically
Why it fails: JLL’s up-to-$25 million per MW figure is a separate tenant technology scope, not a universal surcharge.
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Recovery: create a separate AI fit-out option with its own rack density, cooling, power-distribution and equipment assumptions.
Ignoring the utility programme
Why it fails: land can be available while power delivery remains uncertain.
Recovery: obtain utility evidence early and include connection works, easements, reinforcement and energisation dates in the baseline programme.
Hiding owner-procured equipment outside the project total
Why it fails: the construction contract appears cheaper while the owner retains procurement, storage, installation and warranty interfaces.
Recovery: maintain a single total-project cost plan and identify owner-furnished packages explicitly.
Treating a benchmark as a quotation
Why it fails: published averages smooth over local labour, logistics, code and design differences.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What do the benchmarks imply for different project sizes?
Per-MW arithmetic can help stakeholders understand scale, provided the scope remains visible. At the JLL 2025 shell-and-core average, a notional 10 MW facility would calculate to $107 million (10 × $10.7 million). At the 2026 forecast, the same arithmetic gives $113 million. A notional 50 MW facility gives $535 million and $565 million respectively.
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These examples do not account for economies or diseconomies of scale, local conditions, phasing, redundancy, utility works, land, soft costs or IT. They are useful for testing whether an early business case is in the right order of magnitude, not for setting a contract value. A smaller facility may not achieve the same unit rate as JLL’s 50 MW basis, and a multistory or liquid-cooled design may require a different comparison.
What is the most reliable way to control the final budget?
Start with a scope-controlled benchmark, validate power and site constraints before detailed design, and keep shell, MEP, tenant technology and active IT in separate cost lines. Then manage the variables that the sources identify—location, cooling, configuration, procurement responsibility, labour and lead times—through documented options, dates and ownership.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe practical decision rule is simple: never approve a data-centre budget because its dollars-per-MW figure looks familiar. Approve it only after the team can explain what the rate includes, what it excludes, which site and power assumptions support it, and how the estimate will be replaced by project-specific evidence as design and procurement progress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the $11.3 million per MW figure include servers and networking?
No. JLL’s 2026 forecast is for shell and core on a single-tenant, 50 MW, air-cooled basis and excludes active IT equipment. Servers, storage and networking should be shown as a separate owner or tenant technology budget.
Is liquid cooling always 10% more expensive than air cooling?
No. JLL reports a 10% premium in its comparison, under its stated assumptions. Actual cost depends on rack density, heat-rejection design, water strategy, redundancy, building configuration and which party supplies the equipment.
How early should a utility connection be confirmed?
Before treating a site benchmark as a project budget. Confirm available capacity, connection scope, reinforcement, easements and an energisation date during site feasibility because JLL identifies speed to power as the leading site-selection criterion.
Can a published benchmark be used to set a fixed-price construction contract?
Not by itself. Benchmarks are order-of-magnitude checks; a fixed price needs a defined design, responsibility matrix, supplier and labour assumptions, programme, exclusions and site-specific quantities.
