The rise of AI and hyperscalers’ requirement for round-the-clock capacity to maintain their cloud services continues to drive outsized demand for digital infrastructure. Blue Owl’s Marc Zahr, co-president with the firm, explains how the Blue Owl is providing capital to investors by applying its net-lease strategy to the data center sector. In a report, “Data centers are a generational growth opportunity,” which was published in the April issue of Institutional Real Estate Americas, Zahr sets out both the opportunities and the challenges this investment sector presents.
“As a credit- and cash-flow-oriented investor, we require a specific set of investment criteria to be met before we execute a transaction, such as having pre-leased agreements, guaranteed rent-commencement dates and corporate, as well as construction, guarantees,” says Zahr. “Today, we are structuring deals in this manner so we can enter transactions after the more speculative phases, allowing
