Asset-Class Studios
Data Centres & Digital Infrastructure Studio
A studio that applies the real-estate toolkit to data centres and digital infrastructure — why they are real estate plus infrastructure, what drives their demand and location, how deals and leases are structured, and how to appraise the capex-intensive investment case.
The promise
Apply the real-estate toolkit to data centres - demand, location, deal structures, and the capex-intensive investment case.
By the end you can
- Read power, connectivity, and location drivers
- Structure data-centre deals and leases
- Appraise the capex-intensive investment case
- Assess digital-infrastructure demand
Curriculum
The Data Centre Asset
Real estate plus power, cooling and connectivity; hyperscale vs colocation vs edge; why power (MW), not floor area, is the unit of value.
Demand & Location
Cloud and AI demand drivers; power availability, cost and sustainability; latency, land, fibre and the Gulf/Egypt opportunity.
The Deal & Lease
Build-to-suit, powered shell and turnkey structures; triple-net leases and hyperscaler covenants; WAULT and income security.
Feasibility, Risk & Value
Capex intensity and the power-cost pass-through; obsolescence and technology risk; building the investment case.
Course assessment
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The capstone project
This course ends in a real professional deliverable. Complete the course — including the capstone — and your certificate is issued automatically.
Your final deliverable
Data Centre Opportunity: Adviser's Recommendation
Produce an adviser's recommendation covering, in order: 1. Site and power suitability - the power position first (MW secured, timing, tariff, carbon intensity, connection queue), then cooling feasibility, connectivity, and land; name the single binding constraint. 2. Demand thesis - who fills the megawatts and why here; whether demand is latency- or cost-driven; the credibility and sufficiency of any anchor. 3. Lease and covenant analysis - the deal structure (build-to-suit, powered shell or turnkey) and who therefore holds capex and obsolescence risk; income security via WAULT (to break and expiry), covenant strength (parent vs subsidiary, guarantees), concentration and tenant stickiness. 4. Capex and risk - the capex-per-MW intensity and phasing, the financing sensitivity, and the principal risks (power-delivery timing, concentration, obsolescence, sustainability, execution) with their mitigants. 5. The recommendation - proceed, proceed subject to conditions, or decline, with the conditions or the killing objection stated plainly. Every market-specific figure must be flagged "requires local market data". The recommendation must be a defensible decision resting on clearly-flagged unknowns, not on borrowed or invented certainties.
Graded on five criteria
- Method & rigour — The right framework, applied correctly, with the working shown — not just an answer.
- Data honesty — Every figure is sourced, triangulated, or explicitly flagged “requires local market data”. Nothing is invented.
- Analysis & judgment — Assumptions are explicit, at least one alternative is weighed, and the key risks are quantified.
- Recommendation — A clear, decision-useful conclusion a professional could act on — with the conditions that qualify it.
- Communication — Structured, concise, and client-ready — the argument lands.
Pass criteria
A submission passes when it meets the bar on all five criteria — the work is something a competent professional could put in front of a client or committee. The Verified Professional credential is issued on a pass.
Resubmission
Work that isn't there yet comes back marked “needs work” with specific feedback. You revise and resubmit — there is no penalty and no limit on attempts.
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