Keppel DC REIT's CEO says he runs data centres like a shopping mall. On CBRE's figures, Sydney has less vacant space than Tokyo at a third lower rent

Loh Hwee Long, chief executive of the manager of Singapore-listed Keppel DC REIT, told The Straits Times in an interview published on 16 September that the trust runs its data centres like VivoCity, the mall down the road from Keppel's office. The hyperscalers are the anchor tenants: about 30 per cent of the trust's assets are on their contracts, which usually run at least 15 years at lower rates. The rest is on shorter colocation leases, the "pop-up stores" in his words, where "you can really drive up the yield with much higher rents" at each renewal. He said the focus lets annual growth run above 1 to 2 per cent.

Loh named Singapore, Japan and South Korea as the trust's Tier 1 markets, where land and power are short and the owner can act as a price-setter. Where capacity is plentiful, he said, hyperscalers use their bargaining power to win better lease terms. He puts a new build in Japan at five to seven years, and Singapore rationed its latest 200MW in August at 50MW each across four operators, Keppel Data Centres among them. Australia, where the trust owns the Gore Hill data centre in Sydney, sits outside Tier 1.

CBRE's Global Data Center Trends 2026 reports March quarter vacancy and average asking rent for Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo on the same basis:

• Singapore: 2% vacant, US$403 per kW a month
• Sydney: 4.5% vacant, US$188
• Tokyo: 6% vacant, US$280

Full piece with sources:
https://certifiedstrategic.com/insights/keppel-dc-reit-shopping-mall-model-sydney-data-centres

Sydney meets the scarcity condition, with less vacant space than Tokyo, and asks a third less rent. Cushman & Wakefield's own series has Sydney tightening, to 2.2% at 30 June 2026 from 3.0% in 2025, with 61% of Australia's pipeline leased before construction. CBRE converts everything to US dollars, so exchange rates move the comparison as well as rents.

Cushman also counts 2,018MW planned in Sydney, up 83% in six months. Transgrid says connection capacity in the Sydney basin is largely exhausted after more than 10GW of enquiries since late 2024 within a 12km radius in Sydney West. AEMO says large connections target about two years from application to energisation where capacity exists.

Knight Frank's Data Centre Atlas 2026 measures Melbourne against all three Tier 1 markets: Seoul 1.3% vacant, Melbourne 3.5%, Singapore 5.0%, Tokyo 5.8%. Neither Knight Frank nor CBRE publishes a Melbourne rent.

Keppel's own Sydney building, Gore Hill, was 80% occupied by two clients at the end of 2025, with 0.7 years of lease term left. At the half-year briefing in July the trust said it had signed new contracts there and expects the building's income to more than double from 2026, and Loh said it should lift third-quarter rental reversion to a low-teens range. The trust hasn't said how much of that is filling the empty fifth versus higher rent on renewals.