AI in Commercial Real Estate: 3 Future-Forward Projects Worth Watching

We’re not just building buildings anymore—we’re building intelligence into the environments we live and work in.

Across the commercial real estate (CRE) world, AI is moving from buzzword to blueprint. While many headlines focus on the tech giants, some of the most compelling transformations are happening inside the walls of real estate itself. This post rounds up three innovative projects that spark curiosity, hint at bigger shifts, and ask us to consider: what role will AI play in shaping the built world around us?

These aren’t deep dives—they’re conversation starters for owners, developers, and anyone AI-curious in the AEC and CRE sectors.

1. Amazon’s $10B AI Campus in Richmond County, NC

Amazon is investing $10 billion in a new AI and cloud computing campus in North Carolina. Purpose-built for scale, the site will include data centers housing GPU-heavy servers, ultra-high-density racks, and advanced cooling/power systems designed for massive AI workloads.

What makes it even more interesting is the inclusion of on-site fiber-optic infrastructure, low-latency interconnects, and workforce training programs to develop engineers and specialists who can operate AI clusters at scale.

Think of it as not just a building, but an AI ecosystem in itself.

Sources: Reuters, AP News

2. Digital Realty’s Sustainable AI Data Centers

Digital Realty is taking a bold step in sustainability by upgrading over 300 global data centers to support AI compute density. These facilities will handle bespoke power and cooling requirements for GPU and TPU pods.

They’re also using their own AI platform, Apollo AI, to manage sensor data in real time and automatically optimize energy, water, and cooling usage—essentially turning sustainability into a machine-learned process.

The line between operational efficiency and environmental responsibility is being blurred in the best way.

Sources: Business Insider, Cool Gradient

3. Panattoni’s Pivot: From Warehouses to AI-First Data Centers

Known for logistics and warehouse developments, Panattoni is now leaning hard into AI by launching a 1-gigawatt data center expansion.

The facilities are engineered specifically for high-power, low-latency compute clusters—the backbone for AI model training and deployment. This strategic pivot marks a clear signal that demand for AI infrastructure is rewriting the development playbook.

Sources: Panattoni, The Tech Capital

Where Spark AI Strategy Comes In

At Spark AI Strategy, we don’t just track these innovations—we help CRE and AEC businesses interpret what they mean and where opportunities lie. From decoding smart building trends to helping leaders map their first AI use case, our goal is to make the future feel practical, not abstract.

If you’re exploring how AI might fit into your next development, design, or portfolio strategy, we’re here to help translate big tech into real-world value.

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Bibliography

• Amazon to invest $10 billion in North Carolina for AI expansion – Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-invest-10-billion-north-carolina-expand-cloud-ai-infrastructure-2025-06-04
• Amazon AI hub will reshape Richmond County – AP News: https://apnews.com/article/338bef3890bb61159e1b6bedfd2efbb5
• Digital Realty readies global data centers for AI demand – Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-realty-ai-infrastructure-data-centers-sustainability-strategy-2025-6
• Inside Digital Realty’s Apollo AI platform – Cool Gradient: https://coolgradient.com/how-digital-realty-uses-ai-to-build-the-worlds-most-sustainable-data-centers
• Panattoni pivots to AI-first data centers – Panattoni: https://www.panattoni.com/news_article/warehouse-developer-panattoni-plans-data-center-push-sparked-by-ai-boom
• Panattoni confirms 1GW expansion – The Tech Capital: https://thetechcapital.com/panattoni-confirms-plans-for-1gw-ai-data-centre-portfolio