According to DCD, Goodman Group’s construction pipeline is set to hit a record AU$17.5 billion by June 2026, with data centers representing a massive 75% of that work. The Australian commercial property firm currently has AU$12.4 billion in progress, with data centers already making up 68% of that. They’ve got 300MW of data center capacity under construction right now, growing to 500MW during 2026. CEO Greg Goodman says hyperscale capex programs are driving this growth, with their metropolitan locations being central to serving cloud and AI requirements. The company has a massive 5GW power pipeline secured, with 3.4GW ready to use immediately. Goodman emphasized that 90% of their deals are with hyperscalers and established colocation providers, positioning them for sustained demand.
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The power play
Here’s the thing that really stands out – that 5GW power pipeline. For context, 5 gigawatts could power something like 3-4 million homes. That’s an insane amount of electricity dedicated purely to data centers. And they’ve already secured 3.4GW of it, which suggests they’re not just talking big – they’re actually locking down the most constrained resource in this industry.
But let’s be real – securing power commitments and actually getting that power to flow consistently are two very different things. We’ve seen plenty of projects stall because local grids couldn’t handle the demand or because utility companies got cold feet. The fact that they’re building in metropolitan areas rather than “the middle of nowhere” as Goodman put it actually makes the power challenge even tougher. Urban grids are already stressed, and adding hundreds of megawatts of data center load isn’t simple.
Hyperscale or hype?
Goodman makes a compelling case that they’re building for “basic” cloud demand rather than speculative AI projects. He says they’re focused on what hyperscalers will need in the next 2-3 years. That sounds smart, but I wonder – isn’t everyone’s AI workload eventually going to run on cloud infrastructure anyway? The distinction between “cloud” and “AI” data centers is getting pretty blurry.
The company’s shift from traditional logistics and industrial real estate into data centers is fascinating. They’re basically betting the farm that the physical infrastructure for computing will be as valuable as warehouses and distribution centers. Given that companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com are seeing massive demand for industrial computing hardware, maybe they’re onto something. The physical layer of digital infrastructure is becoming incredibly valuable.
Global gamble
Looking at their project locations – Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, the US, France, Japan – they’re playing in some of the most challenging regulatory and power markets globally. Germany’s energy situation is… complicated post-Russia. Hong Kong has its own political considerations. California, where they’re building that 32MW LA facility, has some of the most expensive power and toughest environmental regulations in the US.
So is this AU$17.5 billion pipeline genius or gambling? Probably a bit of both. The demand for compute does seem fundamentally strong, but we’re talking about massive capital commitments in an industry that’s historically had boom-bust cycles. Remember when everyone overbuilt during the dot-com era? The difference now is that cloud computing really has become essential infrastructure, like electricity itself. But still – AU$17.5 billion is a breathtaking amount of money to bet on any single trend, no matter how solid it looks today.
