Strategic Power Play: BGO’s $260 Million Investment Fuels Next-Generation US Data Center Expansion

Major Funding for Digital Infrastructure Growth

Real estate investment management leader BentallGreenOak (BGO) has successfully secured approximately $260 million through a specialized co-investment vehicle dedicated to data center development across strategic US markets. This significant capital raise, established in connection with the firm’s US Industrial Strategies I fund, represents a strategic move to address the growing demand for power-ready digital infrastructure in an increasingly constrained energy environment.

Major Funding for Digital Infrastructure Growth
Comprehensive Funding Strategy and Power Capacity
Strategic Partnerships and Development Pipeline
Portfolio Scale and Market Position
Leadership Perspective on Market Opportunity
Investor Profile and Market Confidence
Broader Corporate Context and Global Ambitions
Regional Development Focus

Comprehensive Funding Strategy and Power Capacity

When combined with the broader fundraising efforts for its closed-end strategy, BGO has amassed approximately $800 million in total commitments. The firm is currently in advanced negotiations to secure up to 800MW of power capacity, which would enable the development of nearly 3.2 million square feet of state-of-the-art data center space. This power-focused approach addresses one of the most significant challenges facing modern data center development in today’s market.

Strategic Partnerships and Development Pipeline

BGO is executing its expansion strategy through a strategic collaboration with NorthPoint Development, a Kansas City-based real estate operating company with an extensive portfolio of industrial projects. The partnership currently features eight industrial projects within the US Industrial Strategies I fund, including three sites specifically designated for data center development. NorthPoint brings substantial land assets to the collaboration, with the company reporting 37 powered land sites across 17 states representing more than 15,600 acres and 4.8GW of potential capacity.

Portfolio Scale and Market Position

The combined portfolio spans an impressive geographic and developmental footprint:

Over 1,500 acres of land holdings across strategic US markets
17.1 million square feet of total buildable area
6.4 million square feet already developed and operational
5 million square feet currently leased to institutional-grade tenants

Leadership Perspective on Market Opportunity

John Carrafiell, co-CEO of BGO, emphasized the strategic importance of their approach: “What we’ve been able to achieve to date through Industrial Strategies I reflects growing investor conviction in BGO’s ability to deliver the next generation of state-of-the-art digital infrastructure. By combining institutional real estate expertise with deep utility-grade energy insight, we’re creating three shovel-ready powered sites with access to critical infrastructure—substations, transmission lines, and fiber networks.”, according to recent research

Carrafiell further noted that their “data science-driven approach enables us to identify and deliver precisely what hyperscale users need—at scale, speed, and certainty,” highlighting the firm’s competitive advantage in a power-constrained development environment.

Investor Profile and Market Confidence

The funding success demonstrates strong institutional confidence in BGO’s data center strategy. The US Industrial Strategies I fund attracted commitments from nine domestic institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance groups, and high-net-worth capital. The data center co-investment component attracted an additional nine investors, reflecting specialized interest in digital infrastructure assets., as additional insights

Broader Corporate Context and Global Ambitions

BGO, part of SLC Management within Sun Life’s institutional asset management business, oversees approximately $86 billion in assets under management. The firm has been strategically expanding its data center capabilities globally, recently launching BGO DataCenters as a dedicated platform. This new entity reportedly claims a European pipeline exceeding 1.2GW of capacity, focused on Tier 1 and 2 markets, complementing the North American expansion.

The company’s data center expertise extends through previous strategic investments, including its position in Nordic data center firm Bulk and the acquisition of two IBM data centers in Canada through sale-leaseback transactions.

Regional Development Focus

NorthPoint Development has identified Pennsylvania as a key growth market, with multiple development applications filed across the state. The company is pursuing projects in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, Hazle Township, and Packer Township, positioning the partnership to capitalize on the strategic mid-Atlantic location’s connectivity and power infrastructure advantages.

This substantial funding commitment and strategic partnership positions BGO and NorthPoint Development as significant contributors to the next wave of US data center infrastructure, specifically designed to meet the demanding requirements of hyperscale users in an era of increasing digital transformation and power constraints.