Brookfield Asset Management to Acquire Minority Stake in American Real Estate Partners Data Center Platform

MCLEAN, Va. & NEW YORK — Affiliates of Brookfield Asset Management have agreed to acquire a minority interest in American Real Estate Partners, a McLean, Virginia-based institutional fund manager and real estate developer with a vertically integrated data center development platform, the companies announced September 14, 2026.

The transaction brings together American Real Estate Partners' development capabilities with Brookfield Asset Management's global scale across real estate, energy and infrastructure. Closing is anticipated in the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Rothschild & Co served as exclusive financial advisor to American Real Estate Partners in connection with the transaction.

A Platform Built Around AI Infrastructure

American Real Estate Partners — known by its acronym AREP — has assembled a data center development pipeline exceeding 32 million square feet of hyperscale capacity nationwide. The firm has deployed or committed more than $30 billion and acquired over 40 million square feet of Class-A real estate across data center, residential, industrial and office asset classes.

Central to AREP's data center strategy is PowerHouse Data Centers, a wholly owned division that develops and owns next-generation facilities for hyperscale tenants. PowerHouse's Northern Virginia program, spanning Ashburn, Sterling and Arcola, totals 2.1 million square feet and up to 338 megawatts of critical power across six buildings. The flagship ABX-1 facility, located at 21529 Beaumeade Circle in Ashburn's Data Center Alley, encompasses 265,000 square feet across two stories in a powered shell configuration with planned capacity of up to 45 megawatts at full build-out. The 10.3-acre site was acquired for $21.5 million.

AREP and Harrison Street have committed $1 billion to develop 2.1 million square feet of data centers across six buildings on two campuses in Ashburn and Arcola, Virginia. Beyond Northern Virginia, AREP is pursuing large-scale development in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, through a joint venture with Pennsylvania Data Center Partners to build Pennsylvania Digital I — an AI-focused data hub with 1.35 gigawatts of capacity, expandable to 1.8 gigawatts.

In February 2025, AREP closed its Strategic Opportunity Fund IV with $309 million in equity commitments, its largest GP fund to date. Approximately 80% of that capital is allocated to expanding the PowerHouse data center platform. The firm's prior Fund III closed in 2022 with $63 million in commitments.

What the Parties Said

Brian Katz, Co-Founder and President of American Real Estate Partners, said the firm has built AREP into a differentiated real estate investment and data center development platform over the past several years. "We are excited to welcome Brookfield as a partner," Katz said. "Brookfield brings tremendous global experience and capabilities, and we look forward to partnering in this next and exciting chapter of growth at AREP."

Ben Brown, Co-President of Brookfield's Real Estate Group, framed the investment in the context of long-term AI infrastructure demand. "We are in the early stages of a multi-decade buildout of physical infrastructure required for AI," Brown said. "AREP is a strong, synergistic partner with institutional quality data center development capabilities and similar goals across the digital and power sectors, all of which aligns with our disciplined approach to integrated data center development."

Brookfield's Broader AI Infrastructure Push

The minority stake in American Real Estate Partners fits within a broader capital deployment strategy at Brookfield Asset Management, which manages more than $1 trillion in assets under management and is headquartered in New York. Brookfield has publicly positioned AI infrastructure — spanning data centers, power, transmission and compute — as a core growth pillar, estimating that AI infrastructure investment opportunities could exceed $7 trillion over the next decade.

Brookfield has established a dedicated artificial intelligence infrastructure fund, initially announced as a $100 billion initiative focused on data centers and energy. The firm also controls a multi-gigawatt global data center portfolio and has used portfolio companies, including Data4 in Europe, to drive multi-billion-euro data center development strategies, with up to €15 billion earmarked for expansion in key European markets.

The partnership with American Real Estate Partners extends Brookfield's reach into the U.S. hyperscale development market at a moment when demand from cloud and AI operators is driving capital commitments to digital infrastructure.

Transaction Details

The deal pairs AREP's vertically integrated development platform with Brookfield Asset Management's global capital base and experience across real estate, energy and infrastructure sectors. The partnership is structured to support AREP's continued growth across its core markets and asset classes. PowerHouse has already executed at least one hyperscale lease at its Arcola campus in Northern Virginia, indicating that a portion of its development pipeline is pre-leased to large cloud and AI users.

Rothschild & Co acted as exclusive financial advisor to American Real Estate Partners.

Sources

• PowerHouse Data Centers — Brookfield to Acquire a Minority Interest in American Real Estate Partners
• American Real Estate Partners — Brookfield to Acquire a Minority Interest in American Real Estate Partners