In our first episode of Season 2 of the Real Estate Forum Podcast, host Raphael Sidelsky sits down with Hossein Fateh, Founder and CEO of CloudHQ and Cloud Capital, to explore the evolution of the data center industry and why it has become one of the most durable and strategically important asset classes in real estate.

Hossein shares his journey from navigating real estate bankruptcies during the dot-com crash to co-founding and taking public an early data center REIT and ultimately building a global data center platform. He breaks down the fundamentals of powered land, long-term tenant relationships, and development yields, while addressing AI-driven demand, infrastructure constraints, financing innovation, and the myths around data center obsolescence. The conversation offers an inside look at the capital markets, operational discipline, and long-term thinking required to build and sustain digital infrastructure at global scale.

00:00 – Introduction
00:35 – Guest Introduction
01:33 – Early Career and Lessons
02:00 – Building CloudHQ
06:10 – DuPont Fabros Technology
14:58 – CloudHQ and Cloud Capital Today
20:28 – Infrastructure Demand Shifts
26:35 – Community and Environmental Concerns
31:59 – Economic Metrics and Underwriting
40:33 – Global Expansion and Risk Management
42:21 – Long-term Ownership and Exit Strategies
46:46 – Technological Advancements and Obsolescence
56:31 – Future of CloudHQ and Cloud Capital
61:58 – Closing Thoughts and Recommendations