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Data-Center Boom Crowds Out Housing, Raises Uranium-Shortage Fears By Mark R. Long | WSJ Logistics Report

Another potential contributor to America's housing shortage is emerging: the surge of construction of large data centers required by AI. The WSJ's Will Parker writes that landowners and developers are finding that selling parcels to data-center developers can be far more profitable

than any other use of the land.

Open land, power infrastructure and a dense network of fiber-optic cable laid during the dot-com boom are making Northern Virginia the world's data-center capital , for instance. At the same time the region suffers from a housing shortage of more than 75,000 homes, making state and local officials wary about whether the data centers are crowding out anything else .

Similar dynamics are at work in other data-center hotbeds near Chicago, Atlanta and in Texas. Land along U.S. Route 67 near Dallas that went for $20,000-$40,000 an acre three years ago is now selling for more than $350,000/acre in some spots.

The building boom is also disrupting other corners of the real-estate industry, with data-center developers winning the competition for scarce materials and labor , including concrete pourers and electricians needed to build new housing.

Housing starts rose 6.2% in December

to 1.404 million, exceeding economists' expectations, according to a Commerce Department report. (WSJ) Meta Platforms is bolstering its spending on political-action committees to fight state AI rules

in Texas and Illinois ahead of the midterm elections. (WSJ) Lenders to commercial real estate owners are calling in tens of billions of dollars of troubled loans

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Commodities

Concerns are rising about a potential shortage in uranium to fuel the reactors needed to power energy-gobbling data centers, the Journal's Anthony Harrup writes. World uranium production has been lower than demand for several decades , and utilities are making up the difference mostly by drawing on stockpiles.

There are sufficient uranium resources globally to cover projected growth in nuclear power, but large quantities of investment are needed in exploration and production to meet future reactor requirements, according to the World Nuclear Association. The U.S.-which has the world's largest fleet of nuclear reactors-has little uranium production, and relies heavily on imports from Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia and Russia.

Companies including Centrus Energy, Urenco and Orano USA are expanding or developing uranium enrichment capacity. The Energy Department also has made grants to companies developing recycling technologies, among them Curio and Oklo.

Microsoft said it reached its goal

of matching its total annual global electricity consumption with renewable sources, reaching a target it first set in 2020. (WSJ)

Number of the Day In Other News U.S. industrial output rose by 0.7% in January , marking a third consecutive month of higher production. (WSJ) U.S. durable goods orders fell 1.4% in December , according to delayed Commerce Department data, following a 5.4% rise in November. (WSJ) White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the authors of a New York Fed study finding U.S. firms and consumers shoulder the bulk of the burden of tariffs

should be "disciplined." (WSJ) Higher U.S. tariffs are not the main reason

for a surge in Chinese exports to the eurozone, Africa and other parts of Asia, according to ECB economists. (WSJ) EBay agreed to acquire

the fashion marketplace platform Depop from Etsy for about $1.2 billion in cash. (WSJ) Steel Dynamics and SGH submitted a sweetened bid

for BlueScope Steel, valuing its equity at $11 billion. (WSJ) At Buffalo Wild Wings, a boneless chicken wing

doesn't need to come from a wing, a judge ruled. (WSJ) Miami Beach, Fla., officials adopted new restrictions on autonomous delivery robots

on sidewalks, including new visibility rules, insurance mandates and permits. (SupplyChain24/7) Phoenix Tailings raised $30.2 million from metals trader Traxys North America and other investors to expand facilities that recover critical minerals from mining waste . (Bloomberg) The U.S. indicted the master of the oil tanker

Bella 1-renamed Marinera-seized by American forces after a weekslong pursuit across the Atlantic after being stopped on its way to Venezuela. (New York Times) United Parcel Service plans to close 22 facilities

with Teamsters union members in 18 states, court documents show. (SupplyChainDive) Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern plan to file their updated merger application

to the Surface Transportation Board on April 30, later than a previous aim to file in March. (TrainsPRO) A.P. Moller-Maersk unit APM Terminals agreed to acquire

a 37.5% stake in DP World's Southern Container Terminal at the Red Sea port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (The Loadstar) France's CMA CGM reached a deal to buy six dual-fuel LNG-powered containerships

of 1,700 TEU capacity from India's Cochin Shipyard. (Journal of Commerce) Canada's Seaspan Shipyard awarded a $1.5 million contract to Confined Space Robotics to develop semiautonomous systems to blast and paint

in its ship and submarine programs. (gCaptain) The Transportation Department said over 550 commercial driving schools must close

after finding they employed unqualified instructors or had other safety issues. (Associated Press) Construction of the Gateway rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey should resume next week

after the Trump administration released $205 million in federal funds. (NorthJersey.com)

The Dow Jones Risk Journal in New York on March 4 will include two discussions on trade issues: A panel on how to deal with evasion of export controls, sanctions and tariffs with Janet Labuda, head of trade and customs issues at Maersk Customs Services, Aiysha Hussain, partner at Mayer Brown and Daniel Tannebaum, partner at Oliver Wyman.

Another panel will look at how to incorporate national security into trade compliance, with speakers Kevin O'Connor, general counsel at Lockheed Martin and Joseph Moreno, general counsel at SAP NS2.

Request a complimentary invitation here using the code COMPLIMENTARY. Attendance is limited, and all requests are subject to approval.

About Us

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com]. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2026 07:03 ET (12:03 GMT)

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