CHART OF THE MONTH: COLUMBUS LAND SALES TRENDS (2021–2025)

Written by: Jake Lord

Jake specializes in research capabilities, providing support for the Colliers Columbus Office, Industrial, Retail and Capital Market groups. He is responsible for executing data reports, maintaining a commercial property database, reporting quarterly trends, performing data analysis, and utilizing statistical information to predict future behavior in the market. Keep reading for his insights data center land sales in Columbus from 2021-2025.

February’s Chart of the Month analyzes commercial, industrial and proposed data center land sales in the Columbus market from 2021 through 2025. It highlights key trends in transaction volume, deal size by acreage, and the geographic distribution of sales across the region. The accompanying graphs illustrate changes in total sales volume and average acreage per transaction over time, while the maps show where capital has concentrated throughout Columbus, including price per acre trends. All data is sourced from CoStar.

General Trends in Sales Volume – Looking at the Data

Land sales have increased by an average of 14.41% in volume since January 2021, while total deals have modestly decreased over time. Making up for this difference, net acreage per deal modestly increased, with the price per acre significantly elevating to $189,213.56 in Q4 25. Large land acquisitions for data center development have fueled market activity in recent quarters, led primarily by major technology companies such as Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft.

However, additional operators are also active in the market. For example, EdgeConneX recently acquired land northeast of Columbus for approximately $62 million to support a new data center development. Furthermore, since 2021, about 19 large-scale data center transactions occurred, accounting for nearly $700 million in capital, which is 30% of the total land capital transacted during this time range. This translates to nearly 3,000 acres sold to data center development, which is approximately 14% of the total acreage transacted.

Local government incentives have attracted FAANG firms to Central Ohio through tax exemptions, flexible zoning and reasonably priced, available land. Unsurprisingly, increased demand has commanded higher prices, particularly for agricultural land that could be redeveloped for data centers and other types of industrial space. Land sold for proposed data center usage has gone for a premium, averaging nearly $235,000 per acre and substantially exceeding typical farmland values.

Overall, large data center development should continue to drive up the price of land in Central Ohio as FAANG companies demand it, regardless of interest rate activity, as they will likely pay in cash. There’s no indication that these firms will slow down acquisitions in subsequent years, though land supply will slowly decrease in attractive areas, further increasing prices. While decreasing land supply closer to the heart of Columbus could contribute to lower deal counts and higher acreage costs, it’s likely that firms will venture farther outside the city to gain a foothold in their respective markets.

Going into 2026, sellers may hold on to their agricultural or undeveloped land longer than normal to see if they can pique premium interest. Industrial land could also increase in price as new industrial supply remains relatively low, despite persistent demand for this type of space in Columbus. It remains to be seen if development will increase with more favorable lending conditions for construction firms, furthering increasing the number of deals as well.

Geographical Analysis of Land Transactions

Capital is concentrated in the suburban and rural areas of Columbus that are dominated by data centers and other industrial development. These include the New Albany/Pataskala area, where many of the data centers have broken ground, and in south Columbus bordering Pickaway County. Also, industrial sales outside I-270 have sold for high prices and acreage. For example, a 131-acre site on Worthington Road sold to biotechnology firm Amgen for approximately $25 million. An existing industrial presence in building parks around the I-270 outerbelt, along with favorable governmental incentives, will continue to drive large deals in terms of price and acreage. Indeed, Intel and Anduril have broken ground in Columbus, and data centers should drive land sales activity in rural areas.

Land transacted for proposed industrial use has attracted more capital than sites designated for other uses, such as multifamily, retail or office. This aligns with broader trends in the Columbus commercial real estate market, where industrial demand continues to outpace other property sectors. Industrial land transactions typically command higher pricing compared to other land use categories. However, commercial land sales have largely outnumbered industrial deals since 2021, as these deals tend to be smaller and retail/multifamily focused.

Furthermore, commercial deals tend to demand higher prices per acre as they occur in areas where land is scarcer, such as in the CBD and Polaris submarkets, and may be easier to redevelop. Multifamily development has gained significant momentum in 2021, seeing record level construction deliveries through 2025, as investors utilize opportunity zone incentives to develop commercial land into apartments. Since 2021, more than $100 million in land designated for proposed multifamily development has transacted across the Columbus market. Multifamily and mixed-use development activity has been particularly strong in Lewis Center, Marysville, New Albany, and other submarkets outside the I-270 outerbelt.

As Columbus continues to expand and attract new industry, additional multifamily, retail, healthcare, and office development is likely to follow, which should be reflected in future land transactions. Acreage pricing is expected to remain relatively stable in established urban areas, while pricing in emerging and developing parts of Central Ohio may trend lower as new supply comes online.