Data Center Feasibility Study in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area

Fourth in the nation, but small loans

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria ranks 4 of 169 nationally for data center loans, and a 2.48x location quotient puts data centers at a multiple of their national weight in local lending, yet within the metro's own mix it sits sixteenth, 16 of 39. The loans are modest for a trade that is often imagined as heavy industry: 39 loans and $23.9 million across FY2017 to FY2026. Midpoint $249,100, or 1.21x of the national midpoint for the class, with $91,750 to $500,000 covering the inner half of loans in the Washington area.

Data processing and hosting firms share the code, and colocation buildings are inseparable from hosting services, so the figures plausibly describe small technology service companies far more than hyperscale campuses. The franchise share is 0.00%. A study of a purpose-built facility cannot lean on this record for its scale.

Holders and the geography

The 7(a) table lists Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company (13 loans, $5.7 million), Newtek Bank, National Association (7 loans, $5.8 million) and, at the bottom of the count but the top of the dollars, Live Oak Banking Company (5 loans, $8.7 million). No inference about any lender's appetite or standards should be drawn from these holder entries. Montgomery County, MD has 11 loans, Loudoun County, VA 10 and Stafford County, VA 5. The metro reaches into the District, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, though the named rows fall in only two of the four.

Only two years print: FY2019 with 5 loans and $2.9 million and FY2024 with 8 and $8.4 million. Both loss rates, cancelled and charged off, are held back for Washington data centers, and each blank means withheld, never zero. For Washington data centers, the split by program is withheld on a thin cohort; no 7(a) or 504 figure is given.

What a Washington area data center study has to test

Tenant demand and contract terms, power capacity and price, cooling, connectivity and the physical security the use demands are tested first, with the site compared against the facilities already serving the region. Building and fit-out outlays are weighed against the $249,100 figure, which hints at small operators, and contracted revenue has to cover the debt. Appraisal keeps the operating business and the real estate in separate boxes. Daniel Smith, MAI, signs what Loan Analytics delivers, and a lender, not the study, determines whether a loan is made. The 2023 delineation, applied to each project county, defines the Washington metro; a county it cannot place sends the loan outside every metro.