Washington State’s data center market set a new leasing benchmark in 2025, with facilities across the state recording 154.5 megawatts (MW) of net absorption. According to CBRE’s latest North American Data Center Trend Report, this level of demand represented a 117% increase from the prior year and established a new high-water mark for net absorption in the state.
The report highlights a clear divergence between Central Washington and the Seattle market in how this demand played out. Central Washington led secondary markets in net absorption during 2025, posting a 146.5% increase over 2024. This surge in activity reflects a substantial expansion in the region’s data center footprint over a relatively short period.
Seattle, by contrast, experienced more subdued leasing momentum. The market recorded 6.6 MW of net absorption in 2025, a 40% decline from 2024. While Seattle remains an important node within Washington’s broader data center ecosystem, its absorption trend in 2025 lagged the strong growth seen in Central Washington and contributed less to the state’s overall record.
On the supply side, Central Washington underwent a dramatic increase in capacity. The region’s inventory nearly doubled to 402 MW in the second half of 2025, up from 246.4 MW a year earlier. This expansion indicates that significant new data center infrastructure has been delivered or brought online over the past year, aligning with the heightened leasing activity reported in the market.
Seattle’s inventory growth over the same period was more measured. Total capacity in the market rose to 155.8 MW in the second half of 2025, compared with 150 MW in the second half of 2024. This modest increase contrasts with the rapid scaling observed in Central Washington, where providers expanded more aggressively to meet demand.
Construction pipelines in both markets moved in a different direction than inventory levels, with the pace of new development slowing compared with the prior year. In Central Washington, there were 32.1 MW under construction in the second half of 2025, and 72% of that space had been preleased. This indicates that a large portion of upcoming capacity is already spoken for, even as the overall development tempo has moderated.
Seattle’s construction pipeline was limited by comparison, with 3.5 MW under construction in the second half of 2025. None of this space had been preleased at the time of the report. Taken together, the figures suggest that while Washington State as a whole is experiencing record data center leasing activity, growth is increasingly being led by Central Washington, with Seattle seeing slower absorption, modest inventory additions, and a smaller, currently unleased development pipeline.
