The Next Gold Rush

As the saying goes, “follow the money.” The data center sector, including its entire infrastructure, is said to be on track for approximately $7 trillion of capital investment by 2030, as reported by McKinsey & Company Global Management, with an estimated $500 billion for 2026 alone.

 

Most, if not all, of “big tech” is invested or investing in this space (Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Alphabet, Meta, and the list goes on). It’s a tremendous amount of capital, and this administration is doing everything in its power to “win the race” over China, India, and others to secure its buildout and end-product.

 

The question becomes which states and submarkets will benefit from these buildouts? The answers may be surprising.

 

Virginia, Texas, and Georgia are currently in the lead. However, the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, Nevada, and even Kansas City, MO, are hot on the heels of the initial three states. Kansas City, MO, is in the planning stages of a $100 billion project near the Kansas City Airport. Even Google is getting into the game in eastern Iowa by petitioning to reopen and recommission the Duane Arnold nuclear reactor, located in Fayette Township, Linn County, and using the surrounding area for an AI data center.

 

The reasons as to “why” these states are being chosen can be explained rather simply: cheap land, affordable electricity, and in place pro-growth development policies which can streamline the buildout process (unlike the California permitting process, for example). The electrical components of these centers are extremely important, as is the location. Not only do these centers use massive amounts of power, but they also require constant cooling, which in turn drains significant amounts of power, taking grid power away from the surrounding area. There are different ways to solve the electrical issue.

 

With the estimated $7 trillion of investment capital over the next five years, investors should follow these buildouts for opportunities in retail, hospitality, industrial, medical office, and multifamily sectors. These centers are run by people (and Nvidia CPUs) and will need support services and housing availability within the surrounding campuses for the foreseeable future. Note that both AMD and Qualcomm are also targeting this space.

 

Unfortunately, not everyone will be a winner in this game. Many critics argue that the evolution of AI will lead to massive job losses, degrade human critical thinking, and result in a monopolistic enterprise. However, as witnessed with the Dot.com bubble in 2000, similar issues will occur in this sector—not everyone can be a winner.

 

Dramatic strides in the digitization of everything going forward are on the horizon. The journey won’t be smooth, but the long-term net future positive outweighs the short- to medium-term negatives, including the “misallocation of capital” for some companies. With new plans announced every week for a new datacenter somewhere in the U.S., it’s prudent for investors to focus on where the momentum is heading.

 

For example, “Data center developer Crusoe has struck a deal with US Blue Energy to secure power of up to 1.5 GW for a nuclear-powered AI Campus located at Port of Victoria, Texas, expecting its first delivery of nuclear power electricity by 2031.”

 

Energy Economics 2.0, Investing in Power

The biggest driver of not only data centers/AI, but also economic well-being, is access to affordable energy. Data centers require non-intermittent power, as the flow of electricity must be static 24/7, to ensure accurate data processing. Wind and solar cannot offer 24/7 baseload power, forcing companies and municipalities to supplement their energy sources with nuclear power and natural gas turbine providers to provide continuous, 24/7 power.

 

As Goldman Sachs stated, we are now in the “Terawatt Era”. To put nuclear energy density into context, nuclear fission is a very high-density power source. 1 uranium fuel pellet, the size of a fingernail, creates as much fission energy as 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 120 gallons of oil, and 1 ton of coal. In addition, nuclear reactors (big or small) have a significantly smaller land footprint compared to wind and solar energy sources and can last for up to 100 years. As nuclear and natural gas expand to support data centers, surrounding areas may see renewed investment in industrial and infrastructure assets.

 

The Nuclear Energy Race

The U.S. and most of the industrialized nations (aside from Germany) are all on the precipice of major nuclear energy buildouts. Not just for data center demand, but also to meet current demand (pre data center development).

 

China alone is building 10 to 12 major nuclear plants per year, while the U.S. has only built two major nuclear reactors over the past 30 years (Vogtle 3 & 4, located in Georgia in 2023, with AP 1000 units – Westinghouse/Cameco). The U.S. is trailing China for carbon-free, clean baseload nuclear energy; however, as of October 28, 2025, that has changed. The United States Government, Cameco, and Brookfield Asset Management have announced at least $80 billion investment for the building of new large reactors across the U.S. (AP1000 units). These new buildouts will help create new high-paying jobs and energy security. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) will also be added to the energy mix, providing “bolt-on” clean electric power and heat for hospitals, manufacturing plants, and in some instances replacing coal-fired plants. This technology is in its infancy; however, Terra Power (Bill Gates), NuScale, BWXT, X-Energy, Rolls-Royce, and others are nearing the testing of their SMR prototypes for mass manufacturing within the next three to five years.

 

Many other primary and secondary industrial countries, including Saudi Arabia, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and India, have plans or are expanding their nuclear power portfolios. As noted above, the German Green Party has dismantled Germany’s industrial base over the past five years by closing its fully functional nuclear power plants to focus on wind and solar energy. That mistake has led to the drastic decrease in industrial production within Germany and the European Union. There is ongoing discussion of reversing these “green policies” and turning the fully functional units back on, as the German economy is the largest GDP producer within the EU. It remains to be seen whether policies in Germany will shift toward re-endorsing nuclear power generation and lowering the cost of electricity for their industrial base.

 

Why Energy Independence Matters More Than Ever

The takeaway is that all forms of affordable and reliable energy are needed to help manufacturing bases remain competitive (keeping costs low) and to support daily life. Real estate investors will have the opportunity to strategically invest within these demand-driven areas of new buildouts. Data centers and reactors (both large and small) will employ hundreds, if not thousands, of people. And if the U.S. can lower the cost of BTUs for everyone, we can maintain a competitive edge globally.

 

Uranium & Nuclear Ecosystems Explained

Above is a visual of the nuclear ecosystem. While not shown in its entirety, it provides a visual explanation of how this space works, from fuel exploration and enrichment to fabrication, and ultimately to the end users. As seen below, the cycle is more complex than oil and gas energy producers yet follow a similar path. It’s important to understand that about 90% of the current nuclear fleet in the U.S. receives its fabricated nuclear fuel from Russia, as we have outsourced everything over the past 30 years. Now that the government has banned imports from Russia, Energy Secretary Wright, with the help of the NEC, is pushing forward the regulatory framework to “onshore” the entire fuel cycle.

 

In the 1960s and 1970s, the U.S. was the largest nuclear fuel fabricator worldwide; that expertise was relinquished years ago (as hydrocarbons were cheaper to extract) and is now being rebuilt in response to rising energy demand. That in itself is a very challenging mission. Yet, it is taking place throughout the U.S. States like Texas, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming are now at the forefront of these efforts, not only for uranium discovery and extraction, but also for fabrication and enrichment. These ecosystems need support s y s t e ms, and therein lies future commercial real estate opportunities.

 

To address the concern about “nuclear waste,” or “tails” as it is known in the industry (spent fuel).

1. SMRs are very efficient and can run at decreased power levels at the same time, meaning the spent fuel or tails are negligible.
2. Larger reactors like the AP 1000 consume millions of pounds of uranium via fabricated fuel, and there also remains a very large stockpile of spent fuel/tails within the U.S. However, with Quantum Laser Technology (QLE) or ASPI Isotopes and Silex, these stored waste stockpiles can be re-enriched into working fuel s tockpiles, drastically decreasing the storage capacity for waste.

 

Graphene’s Emergence

One material poised to disrupt the marketplace over the next 5 to 10 years, and will actually improve everything it encounters, including c o mmercial re al e s tate , i s p u re S P 2 bonded 100% crystalline graphene.

 

Graphene has been known for some time: however, until recently, graphene has been made from graphite, which does not provide the properties that true SP2-bonded graphene provides. Pure graphene, and in this case made by Hydrograph Clean Power, is 99.8% pure crystalline graphene.

 

What Does That Mean and Why Is This Important

Well, this crystalline pure graphene material (not derived via graphite), but from a proprietary combustion process using acetylene, will be transformative for a host of industries. This material can improve material tension strength when applied or mixed by a function of “X”. In addition, this material is electrically conductive due to its pristine lattice composition and thin layering.

 

Staying within the commercial real estate sector, what advantages can this material improve? When added to cement, this material can increase compressive strength by 10% to 40% and its tensile strength by 50%. The cement material is reported to have 4X reduction in water permeability. This enhanced durability will dramatically extend the lifespan of infrastructures, thereby providing longterm cost reductions associated with maintenance, repair, and replacement.

 

By adding graphene to wood materials, it will drastically increase its tension strength and fire life safety characteristics. These material enhancements, once adopted, should drastically lower insurance premium costs, as these materials can withstand a much higher degree of wear and tear, including heat, pest invasion, water damage (such as mold) and in some cases, natural disasters. Other ways this material can be applied include solar panels, roofing materials, flooring, asphalt, and battery nodes, which can increase longevity and conductivity.

 

Not only will graphene be used in most building materials (paints, solvents, rubber, plastics, wood, cement, etc.,) it will also greatly enhance battery storage, medical monitoring, food storage (containers), nuclear power plants, automobiles, clothing, and almost everything we touch. Imagine if you didn’t have to replace your oil every 5,000 miles or tires every 40,000?

 

• When added to plastics, this material will enhance the service life of plastic by 8x (think industrial users).
• When added to lubricants, there is an 80% decrease in mechanical wear and reduced friction. Pure graphene can be added to computer chips, drastically lowering heat transference and increasing CPU speeds, think quantum computing.
• When added to electrodes, battery life increases by 47%, increasing efficiency, performance, and storage. The application spectrum for this material is endless, let alone what the U.S. Department of War can use it for:
  • Aircraft surfaces and structure
  • Submarines
  • Body Armor
  • Radar
  • Electronics
  • Missile systems

 

What Makes Graphene a Supermaterial?

Electron Mobility: As high as 200,000 cm²/V·s, much higher than silicon

UV Resistance: Blocks harmful UV rays by up to 70%

Thermal Conductivity: Highest ever measured at ~4000 W/m·K

Thinness: A single layer of graphene is just 0.345nm

High Surface Area: As much as 2,630 m²/g – very high surface area

Flexibility: Graphene can stretch up to 25% of its original length

Transparent: Single-layer graphene transmits approximately 97.2% of light

Electrical Resistance: Graphene electrical resistivity of just 0.2 × 10-⁶ Ω·cm

Impermeability: Blocks all other elements, even hydrogen

 

There are many exciting advances taking place that are merging technology, materials, energy, and commercial real estate to advance efficiency, prosperity, safety, and competitiveness. The next five years will be an exciting period of time as these sectors all merge to play a bigger part within the U.S. economic landscape. As always, do your own due diligence and keep informed as much as possible as these trends and themes unfold. There are many exciting opportunities out there for those who like to dig in and be in the know.