AI Data Center Leases Stretch to 20 Years as Power Becomes the Asset

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- American News Group News Commentary - The global AI data center market is projected to grow from USD 471.59 billion in 2026 to USD 2,023.52 billion by 2032, a compound annual growth rate of 27.5%, according to MarketsandMarkets. Much of that spending is now being locked in through long-term leases, as companies with power already connected sign 15- to 20-year take-or-pay contracts with investment-grade tenants and then finance the buildout against that rent. Active Companies from around the markets with current developments this week include: Host Digital Inc. (NYSE American: HOST), CleanSpark, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSK), Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ: HUT), TeraWulf Inc. (NASDAQ: WULF), and Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: CORZ).

Fortune Business Insights sizes a narrower slice of the same market, the AI data center facilities themselves, at USD 21.27 billion in 2026 rising to USD 133.51 billion by 2034, a 25.8% CAGR. The two firms define the market differently, but both point the same way: sustained, double-digit growth in the physical capacity that artificial intelligence workloads run on.

What has changed in 2026 is the shape of the contracts. Over the past several months, operators across the sector have announced leases measured in decades rather than years, often with tenants described as high-investment-grade, and structured as triple-net or take-or-pay so that rent is owed whether or not the space is fully used. That structure lets developers raise project-level debt secured by a single site and its lease, rather than betting the whole company on each build.

The scarce input is power. Grid interconnections and utility service agreements can take years to secure, which is why so many of this year's largest leases have been signed at sites that already had electrical capacity in place, including former industrial plants and former bitcoin mining campuses. The companies below are examples of that model at very different scales.

Host Digital Publishes First Letter to Shareholders After NYSE American Debut, Setting Out Five Questions It Will Answer for Every Site and Lease

• Site I in northeast Oklahoma carries a 15-year take-or-pay lease signed in August for 55 MW gross (43 MW critical IT) capacity.
• The lease carries $1.25 billion in contracted base-term rent with 3% annual increases and approximately $67 million in first-year rent.
• Delivery of Site I is targeted for the first quarter of 2027, with approximately $40 million in cash invested in the project to date.
• The Company has exercised its right to acquire a second Oklahoma site from its Sponsor, which has four additional sites representing more than 450 MW of potential gross power capacity in its pipeline.

Host Digital Inc. (NYSE American: HOST) develops, acquires, owns and operates data centers for AI and high-performance computing workloads. Its shares began trading on the NYSE American under the symbol HOST on September 18, 2026, following the completion of the merger of Host Digital Infrastructure LLC into the former Healthy Choice Wellness Corp. on September 17.

On September 29, Chief Executive Officer Harmol Samra published the Company's first letter to shareholders. The letter describes Host Digital's focus on what it calls "RightScaled" facilities of 20 MW to 100 MW, sited where power already exists or is available in the near term, and leased to customers under long-term contracts.

"The opportunity I see for Host Digital starts with a building, power that's already there, and a customer who needs a place to put it to work," said Samra in the letter. "Putting that existing foundation to work is at the heart of our Speed to Power approach."

Site I is the first test of that approach. It sits in northeast Oklahoma, at a location with an existing industrial building and a utility-owned electrical substation, and the Company says it has acquired the electrical service agreements for the site. The 15-year take-or-pay lease signed in August covers 55 MW of gross capacity and 43 MW of critical IT capacity, with $1.25 billion in contracted base-term rent, 3% annual escalators and approximately $67 million in first-year rent. Delivery is targeted for the first quarter of 2027.

The letter is built around five questions that Samra committed to answering for each project: what Host owns or expects to acquire, what it must pay to get it, what it must spend to deliver it, when rent starts, and what cash is expected to reach Host after project costs.

"My responsibility as Host's CEO is to build lasting value for you, our shareholders," Samra wrote. "Each time we announce a site or a lease, I'm committed to explaining what it means for you as a Host shareholder."

Growth beyond Site I is intended to come through the Company's Sponsor, the privately held Host Infrastructure Holdings, under a 24-month preferential rights agreement covering qualifying projects. On September 22, Host Digital said it had exercised its right to acquire a second site from the Sponsor: approximately 20 MW gross and 16 MW critical IT in northeast Oklahoma, where the Sponsor holds a 12-year take-or-pay lease with a publicly traded AI cloud provider carrying approximately $391 million in base-term rent. That acquisition remains subject to negotiation and definitive agreements. The Sponsor's wider pipeline covers four additional sites with more than 450 MW of potential gross power capacity, which the letter describes as deliverable by the end of 2027.

"Infrastructure is ultimately constrained by how quickly operators can secure power and bring capacity online," Samra said at the time of the listing.

On funding, the letter says approximately $40 million in cash has been invested in Site I to date and that a recent offering raised an additional $17.5 million before fees and expenses. Host Digital intends to finance projects at the project level, secured by individual sites and leases and repaid from rental income, a structure the Company says is designed to protect the broader business from the risks of any single project. Host Digital also continues to operate 19 natural and organic grocery stores across six states through its Healthy Choice Wellness division.

There are several risks associated with the Company's plans. Site I is not yet delivered, and rent under the lease depends on completing construction and delivery on the stated timeline. Project financing has not been completed, and additional capital may be required on terms that are not yet known. The second site acquisition is subject to negotiation and definitive agreements, and the Sponsor pipeline sites are not owned by Host Digital. The Sponsor is a related party and receives the majority of its compensation in Host Digital shares, which may result in dilution. The Company must continue to satisfy NYSE American listing requirements. Readers should review the Company's filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

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The sector has been showing many promising openings over the past month, a few companies stand out from the crowd:

CleanSpark, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLSK), a bitcoin miner building out AI data center capacity, closed a $2.276 billion offering of 7.875% senior secured notes due 2031 on September 25, 2026, through its wholly owned subsidiary CSDC Finance I, LLC. The notes are secured by the Sandersville, Georgia facility and its project entity, and the Company said the proceeds will finance the remaining cost of the build-out, reimburse prior equity contributions to the site and fund debt service reserves.

The financing sits behind a lease CleanSpark announced in July: a 20-year lease with a high-investment-grade global technology company for 175 MW of critical IT load at Sandersville, carrying $6.6 billion in base-term revenue and up to $11.6 billion with two five-year extensions, with rent expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2027. The structure mirrors the sector pattern: a single site, a single long-term tenant, and debt raised against that site rather than the parent.

Hut 8 Corp. (Nasdaq: HUT) closed a $1.07 billion senior secured revolving credit facility on September 28, 2026, led by J.P. Morgan with Citi, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley among a 12-bank syndicate, priced initially at SOFR plus 175 basis points. The Company said the facility strengthens parent-level liquidity and funds collateral requirements for site development.

"We are building a capital structure designed to scale with the business while giving us control over when, where, and how we deploy capital," said Sean Glennan, Chief Financial Officer of Hut 8.

The facility supports a leasing run at the Beacon Point AI data center campus in Nueces County, Texas. Hut 8 signed a 15-year, 352 MW lease there in May with a high-investment-grade counterparty, carrying $9.8 billion in base-term value, and in July announced that the same tenant had doubled its footprint with a second 352 MW phase, bringing contracted base-term value at the campus to $19.6 billion on a triple-net basis.

TeraWulf Inc. (Nasdaq: WULF) received approval from the Kentucky Public Service Commission in August for a 482 MW power agreement with Big Rivers Electric Corporation and Kenergy Corp. at its Justified Data Campus in Hawesville, Kentucky, a site the Company estimates will require $4.0 billion to $4.5 billion of investment for site development and initial data halls.

"Power is the gating factor for AI infrastructure, but how you bring that power to market matters," said Paul Prager, Chief Executive Officer of TeraWulf.

The approval follows a lease TeraWulf disclosed in July with Anthropic PBC for approximately 401 MW of critical IT load at the Justified campus, with a 20-year term and options to extend for up to 10 additional years. According to the filing, Anthropic's payment obligations are expected to be supported by an investment-grade credit, with delivery phased from late 2027 into early 2028.

Core Scientific, Inc. (Nasdaq: CORZ), which already runs a data center campus in Muskogee, Oklahoma, completed the acquisition of Polaris DS in August for approximately $444 million in cash, adding approximately 440 MW of gross, grid-connected power capacity under electric service agreements with Oklahoma Gas & Electric. The Company is advancing a plan to take the Muskogee campus to approximately 1.5 GW of gross power, or about 1.0 GW leasable, with its next delivery of approximately 82 MW expected in the second half of 2027.

"The Polaris acquisition is another example of how we are strategically expanding our power portfolio to support our long-term growth," said Adam Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Core Scientific.

Core Scientific has also secured $600 million of senior secured credit facilities, a $100 million revolver and a $500 million letter of credit facility, arranged by Morgan Stanley with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and TD Securities, for working capital and credit support under its utility agreements. The Company said the facilities are expected to release approximately $300 million of restricted cash.

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