POSITION
REPORTS TO
DATE
MORE INFORMATION
SEARCH CONTACT
SVP LAND ACQUISITION & DEVELOPMENT
GENE ALESSANDRINI, CDO
October 2026
Andy Lane @ CFS Partners
M/T +1.414.807.4085
OPPORTUNITY OVERVIEW
CyrusOne offers an accomplished real estate and development executive the opportunity to shape the sites and markets that will support its next phase of growth. Reporting to Gene Alessandrini, EVP and Chief Development Officer, the SVP will integrate land strategy, energy considerations and market intelligence to identify, secure and advance development opportunities aligned with customer demand and investment objectives.
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
CyrusOne is a leading global data center developer and operator, delivering sophisticated digital infrastructure solutions worldwide. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates over 60 data centers across the United States, Europe, and Japan. Specializing in comprehensive solutions for hyperscale and enterprise companies, CyrusOne enables customers to align with their unique business and sustainability goals, catering to the complex needs of AI-driven applications and high-density workloads. CyrusOne’s data centers offer unparalleled flexibility, enabling customers to modernize, simplify, and rapidly respond to changing demands. CyrusOne delivers tailored build-to-suit, colocation, and interconnection solutions that meet the evolving digital needs of its customers.
HISTORY
The March 2022 acquisition by KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners established a new ownership structure to support CyrusOne’s next phase of expansion. The ~$15B transaction paired an established data center developer and operator with investors capable of supporting substantial, multiyear capital commitments. The investment thesis was to build on CyrusOne’s customer relationships, development capabilities and presence in major digital infrastructure markets, expanding the capacity available to hyperscale and enterprise customers.
Private ownership provided greater flexibility to invest ahead of revenue and pursue development opportunities with long planning and delivery cycles. CyrusOne’s leadership subsequently described an aggressive investment program supported by both sponsors. This approach combined capital formation with operational expertise, organizational development, and a longer-term investment horizon which translated into concrete financing capabilities.
CyrusOne’s commercial and geographic platform progressed, reporting 60+ operational data centers and 50+ in development. Its expansion into Japan through the joint venture established with Kansai Electric Power in 2023 combines CyrusOne’s data center capabilities with a major utility’s power expertise and local relationships. The introduction of Intelliscale in 2023 extended its offering to support the power density and cooling requirements of AI workloads.
CHAPTER
CyrusOne’s current chapter combines a larger international platform with a development agenda increasingly shaped by hyperscale and AI requirements. Its February 2026 company description reported more than 60 data centers across the United States, Europe and Japan. This progression from a regional enterprise colocation business to a global developer and operator has expanded the scale of opportunities it can pursue and the complexity of the sites, infrastructure and customer commitments it must coordinate.
Capital formation has supported that transition. In 2024, CyrusOne announced a $7.9B warehouse credit facility alongside a $1.8B revolving credit facility, totaling approximately $9.7B of additional debt capital. The warehouse facility was intended primarily for existing and future U.S. development projects. In March 2026, following record bookings in 2025, the company increased and extended its revolving credit and U.S. term loan facilities to approximately $8B in aggregate commitments. These are distinct financing milestones, including refinancing activity, rather than additive measures of new construction spending.
Planned leadership transition placed John Hatem in the CEO role in July 2026. Hatem joined CyrusOne in 2011, became COO in 2020 and President in September 2025. His experience links customer engagement with engineering, development and delivery. The CDO’s Energy and Land organization addresses the front end of the process, securing the real estate, energy arrangements, entitlements and incentives allowing faster advancement to construction.
Private ownership provided greater flexibility to invest ahead of revenue and pursue development opportunities with long planning and delivery cycles. CyrusOne’s leadership subsequently described an aggressive investment program supported by both sponsors. This approach combined capital formation with operational expertise, organizational development, and a longer-term investment horizon which translated into concrete financing capabilities.
CyrusOne’s commercial and geographic platform progressed, reporting 60+ operational data centers and 50+ in development. Its expansion into Japan through the joint venture established with Kansai Electric Power in 2023 combines CyrusOne’s data center capabilities with a major utility’s power expertise and local relationships. The introduction of Intelliscale in 2023 extended its offering to support the power density and cooling requirements of AI workloads.
CHARTER
CyrusOne’s growth charter is to deliver scalable infrastructure for hyperscale and enterprise customers whose requirements increasingly include AI workloads and high-density computing. Its offering spans build-to-suit, colocation and interconnection solutions, supported by design and engineering capabilities. The company introduced Intelliscale in 2023 to address AI-specific requirements. The development challenge is to assemble a repeatable supply of suitable sites and infrastructure that can support those customer requirements at an acceptable cost and on a credible schedule.
The Thad Hill Energy Center in Bosque County, Texas, agreements announced in 2025 secured a total of 400MW of power supply together with land and grid connectivity. This agreement is noted as evidence of a repeatable model that brings together power, compute infrastructure, capital and contracted demand. The competitive advantage lies in delivering energized capacity on a credible customer timetable. Land acquisition, energy strategy, infrastructure planning and development approvals therefore become closely connected investment decisions.
The SVPLD’s corresponding charter is to build a development pipeline that connects market selection and customer demand with land control, power feasibility, approvals and investment returns. That requires evaluating traditional greenfield opportunities alongside structured land and infrastructure transactions, anticipating constraints before acquisition and maintaining accountability for land-related obligations through development. The SVPLD will determine where CyrusOne commits resources, negotiate access to strategically valuable sites, and create an organization capable of advancing those opportunities with consistent commercial and execution discipline.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
KKR is a global investment firm with infrastructure, real estate and capital markets capabilities relevant to CyrusOne’s expansion. It co-owns CyrusOne with Global Infrastructure Partners, now a part of BlackRock. Both sponsors supported the 2022 take-private transaction. Their sponsorship provides access to investment expertise and relationships across the infrastructure ecosystem. CyrusOne’s subsequent financing activity demonstrates its ability to access substantial institutional capital, while reinforcing the importance of rigorous underwriting, risk allocation and capital discipline.
NEWS
Recent announcements illustrate leadership continuity, access to capital and the integration of land and energy infrastructure into CyrusOne’s development strategy.
July 30, 2026 | John Hatem appointed CEO
A planned succession placed a long-tenured development and operations executive at the head of the company. Read announcement
March 24, 2026 | Approximately $8B in loan commitments
CyrusOne increased and extended its revolving credit and U.S. term loan facilities following record 2025 bookings. Read announcement
February 9, 2026 | Freestone power agreement
A 380MW agreement with Calpine supports a Texas development; a separate exclusive arrangement covers an additional 380MW phase. Read announcement
January 13, 2026 | Eolian partnership for 200MW campus
The Fort Worth project uses existing transmission and substation infrastructure to accelerate deployment. Read announcement
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT LAND ACQUISITION & DEVELOPMENT
Reporting to Gene Alessandrini, Chief Development Officer (CDO), the Senior Vice President Land Acquisition & Development (SVPLD) will develop and execute CyrusOne’s land development and market expansion strategy to support near- and long-term growth. Provide executive leadership across site identification, market selection, land acquisition, entitlements and commercial development, integrating real estate decisions with energy strategy and market intelligence.
Development Strategy and Market Expansion
Set land acquisition priorities and development roadmaps aligned with corporate growth objectives. Assess customer demand, emerging markets, competitive activity and investment opportunities. Advise executive leadership on market conditions, strategic options, development risks and investment recommendations.
Site Identification and Acquisition
Lead site sourcing, evaluation, negotiation and acquisition. Direct diligence, underwriting support, entitlement strategy, incentive negotiations and transaction structuring. Evaluate structured land and infrastructure opportunities that can improve access, economics or development timing. Ensure each opportunity meets market, customer, infrastructure and investment requirements.
Development Advancement and Accountability
Lead commercial project development from inception through approval and transition into execution. Maintain executive ownership of land-related matters through completion of data center development. Resolve obstacles, mitigate risks and coordinate milestones across Energy, Design and Construction, Operations, Finance, Legal, Tax, Procurement and Sales.
Partnerships and External Representation
Build relationships with landowners, developers, brokers, municipalities, economic development organizations, government agencies, consultants and infrastructure partners. Originate opportunities through those relationships and represent CyrusOne in negotiations, public forums and executive stakeholder meetings.
Organization and Investment Leadership
Build and develop a high-performing real estate and development organization. Establish budgets, priorities, operating objectives and performance measures. Present opportunities and investment recommendations to executive leadership, investment committees and sponsors; serve as a strategic advisor to the Chief Development Officer.
KEY QUALIFYING CRITERIA
The strongest candidates will combine direct development outcomes with the judgment to determine which opportunities CyrusOne should pursue, how to structure them and what must happen before capital is committed.
Data Center Development and Customer Fluency – Substantial experience advancing large-scale data center sites, with an understanding of hyperscale customer requirements and procurement decisions. Can connect location, usable capacity, infrastructure configuration and delivery timing to customer demand. Evidence should include project scale in MW, markets entered and sites advanced into development.
Market Strategy and Pipeline Creation – A record of selecting markets, originating opportunities and building a pipeline that balances near-term availability with long-term expansion. Uses demand intelligence, competition, power constraints and development economics to prioritize opportunities and change course when assumptions shift.
Complex Acquisition and Commercial Structuring – Personally led material land acquisitions and negotiated complex agreements. Can evaluate conventional land purchases, powered land, joint ventures and other structured infrastructure arrangements, assigning obligations and risks clearly. Evidence should include transaction value, negotiating responsibility and achieved commercial outcomes.
Land and Power Integration – Understands how utility capacity, interconnection, energization schedules, infrastructure costs and alternative power solutions affect site feasibility. Partners effectively with energy specialists and can distinguish an attractive acreage position from a site with a credible path to usable power and customer occupancy.
Entitlements and Development Execution – Demonstrated success moving sites through diligence, zoning, environmental review, approvals, incentives and infrastructure planning. Identifies critical dependencies early, resolves municipal and community issues, and remains accountable for land-related commitments as projects move into construction.
Investment Judgment and Capital Discipline – Can assess acquisition basis, enabling infrastructure, timing, phasing, carrying costs and downside exposure within the full development economics. Builds credible investment recommendations, explains sensitivities and identifies conditions that warrant renegotiation, deferral or withdrawal. Comfortable with investment committees and institutional sponsors.
Team Leadership and Executive Partnership – Has built and led teams while coordinating commercial originators, execution specialists and external advisors. Brings clear accountability, sound delegation and practical operating discipline. Earns trust across functions, communicates difficult tradeoffs candidly and serves as a commercially minded partner to the Chief Development Officer.
Location and Travel – Dallas corporate headquarters preferred; remote candidates considered. Travel up to 50%.
WHY CONSIDER THIS OPPORTUNITY WITH CYRUSONE?
If you’re a proven development executive seeking broader strategic responsibility while remaining close to transactions, teams and project outcomes, the SVPLD will directly influence where CyrusOne grows, which opportunities it secures, and how effectively those opportunities become capacity for customers. The position combines strategic influence with tangible transaction and development accountability inside an established global platform.
Shape the next development pipeline – The SVP will help determine market priorities and secure the real estate positions supporting future growth. Decisions made in this role can influence the company’s competitive position and capital deployment for years.
Work where land and energy strategy converge – CyrusOne’s Freestone and Eolian arrangements demonstrate the relevance of sophisticated infrastructure partnerships. The role offers scope to apply commercial creativity and development judgment to opportunities in which land, power and timing must be solved together.
Combine institutional resources with meaningful influence – CyrusOne brings an established customer platform, experienced functional teams and KKR and GIP sponsorship. The March 2026 financing provides evidence of capital access; the executive’s contribution will be selecting and advancing opportunities that justify that capital.
Partner directly with the Chief Development Officer – The SVPLD is close to decisions across the Energy and Land organization facilitating immersion and alignment on site strategy with power availability, customer priorities, and development readiness.
Build a function with measurable outcomes – The mandate includes shaping a high-performing organization and establishing its priorities and performance measures. Success can be demonstrated through the quality of sites secured, approvals achieved, risks resolved and opportunities advanced into execution.
Leave a visible development legacy – For an executive motivated by creating enduring infrastructure, the role offers a direct connection between strategic judgment and physical assets that support hyperscale computing, enterprise operations and AI workloads.
COMPENSATION
An attractive compensation package will reflect the experience and specific circumstances of the selected executive. It is expected to include a competitive base salary, annual performance bonus, long term incentive compensation, and comprehensive benefit program. Additional details on the entirety of the package will be discussed with finalists.
SEARCH PROCESS
CFS Partners will conduct targeted outreach and assessment focused on executives whose experience aligns with the qualifying criteria. CFS will make recommended introductions to Gene Alessandrini after which mutual interest will determine subsequent introductions to the ELT. The detailed interview sequence, finalist meetings, reference process, background verification, and offer approach will be finalized with CyrusOne as the search progresses. Finalists will likely visit Dallas for in-person meetings.
CFS Partners will assess sensitivities, restrictive covenants, prior incentive arrangements, compensation expectations, and other transition considerations on a case by case basis.