Real estate management companies reported strong performance in the first quarter of 2026, driven by a recovery in leasing activity and demand for services, particularly in the data center sector, which also benefited building controls and thermal management companies, according to first-quarter earnings reports. 

CBRE’s building operations segment revenue grew 19% year over year, with data center and other critical infrastructure services surging 71%. JLL benefited from a 17% increase in North America industrial leasing revenue, with meaningful contributions from data centers, CFO Kelly Howe said on the company’s earnings call. Cushman & Wakefield also saw a 17% jump in leasing across all segments, particularly in the Americas office and industrial sectors. 

“Our move into critical infrastructure and data center services is going to be at least as profound as our move into outsourcing in the 1990s and early 2000s, and much faster,” CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic said on the company’s April 23 earnings call. 

Despite concern that AI would negatively impact office leasing as a result of lower office-using employment, the AI boom has been a boost for commercial real estate companies, particularly in the tech, financial services and legal market property sectors. “At this point in time, we’re really not seeing an impact on our business from what people are thinking about in terms of AI concerns, headcount, employment, etc,” Howe said. 

Meanwhile, building controls, energy management and thermal management companies like Johnson Controls, Honeywell, Schneider Electric and Trane are benefiting from data center and electrification business. Data center cooling drove sales up 8% for Johnson Controls, while the AI boom and energy security business helped Schneider Electric increase its energy management segment nearly 13%. 

Read Facilities Dive’s full first-quarter earnings coverage below.