CBRE Executive Jumps To BBG To Launch Data Center Business
The siren call of data center demand has attracted another integrated real estate services firm.
BBG Real Estate Services, a Dallas-based firm with offices in more than two dozen states, has tapped a former CBRE executive to lead a new data center segment, the company announced Tuesday.
Christopher Fudacz will join BBG as a senior managing director after more than a decade at CBRE, where he was most recently the national data center valuation practice leader.
"Data centers are among the most operationally intensive and capital-sensitive real estate assets in the market today," BBG CEO Bill Britain said in a statement. "Chris brings a wealth of experience that will help our clients make informed decisions in a sector that is evolving rapidly and globally."
The new hire will allow BBG to expand its services — which include appraisals for financing and acquisition, feasibility studies, portfolio assessments and market consulting — in the rapidly growing data center sector.
BBG is one of the larger private commercial real estate valuation and advisory firms in the country, with more than 50 offices and 4,500 clients, according to the company. It is especially active in multifamily and senior housing, serving institutional clients, REITs, lenders and developers.
"This is an exciting time for the data center industry, and I'm thrilled to help BBG expand its capabilities in this space," Fudacz said in a statement. "Our goal is to deliver the technical insight and real-world market intelligence that clients need to make strategic decisions."
BBG didn’t include any details about any pipeline of business in its announcement, but said the dedicated business line would help BBG “meet the rapidly growing demand for valuation, due diligence and advisory services in the mission-critical infrastructure sector.
CBRE declined to comment in line with its policy on personnel moves.
Commercial real estate firms across the investment stack, from development to debt, have been standing up business lines focused on data centers as the promise of artificial intelligence continues to fund a development boom.
Industrial giant Prologis launched a dedicated data center business last June. Related Cos., the New York development firm best known for developing towering skyscrapers, launched its data center arm in March with a $45B development pipeline in place.
On Monday, Meta announced it was in talks with Apollo Global Management, KKR & Co., Brookfield, Carlyle Group, Pimco and other investment giants to secure nearly $30B for data center and infrastructure development to meet the future demands of AI.
