Financial research concept

Data Center Signed Lease Commencement Lag: Time from Booking to Revenue Start

Data center signed lease commencement lag measures the time between lease signing and contractual commencement, helping investors assess how quickly bookings can convert into in-place rent.

By Lee BaileyPublished Sep 20, 2026
Research context

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Research date
Sep 20, 2026Use the dated article and cited sources for the definition, examples, and stated limitations.
Operating-model context
12 connected conceptsPart of the reviewed Data Center Operating Model; issuer definitions remain distinct where disclosed.
Company examples
1 reviewed companyRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.
  1. Commencement lag explains why bookings do not become rent immediately
  2. Longer lag can build backlog before revenue
  3. Mix matters
  4. Primary-source examples
  5. Part of the Data Center Operating Model
  6. See It in Company Research
  7. Continue Research

Data center signed lease commencement lag measures the time between signing a new lease and its contractual revenue commencement date.

It is a lease-conversion timing measure, not lease term or backlog duration.

Commencement lag explains why bookings do not become rent immediately

Digital Realty reported a weighted-average lag of nine months between new leases signed in the second quarter of 2026 and their contractual commencement dates.

In the first quarter, the weighted-average lag had been nineteen months.

The timing can vary because customers may be leasing capacity still under construction or requiring future fit-out, power delivery, or phased occupancy.

Longer lag can build backlog before revenue

When a lease is signed but has not commenced, its annualized base rent can enter Data Center Signed-Not-Commenced Backlog.

A long commencement lag can therefore increase backlog visibility while delaying recognition of in-place rent.

Mix matters

Hyperscale leases, retail colocation leases, expansion phases, and renewals can have very different signing-to-commencement timelines.

Quarter-to-quarter changes in weighted-average lag may reflect deal mix rather than construction execution alone.

Primary-source examples

Data center signed lease commencement lag is most useful as a bookings-to-rent conversion timing measure. Pair it with bookings, signed-not-commenced backlog, pre-leasing, and annualized rent.

Part of the Data Center Operating Model

Connect bookings, in-place rent, utilization, interconnection, renewal pricing, signed-not-commenced backlog, development capacity, pre-leasing, future buildable capacity, stabilized yield, construction cabinets, and commencement timing to understand data-center growth economics.

How the model fits together
  • Capacity and recurring monetization: Cabinet utilization shows how much Equinix cabinet capacity is billed. Digital Realty annualized rent and Equinix interconnection revenue are separate recurring-revenue lenses, so they add monetization context without forming a standardized cross-company formula.
  • Bookings, backlog, and repricing: Equinix Annualized Gross Bookings capture near-term recurring revenue expected to start within 90 days, while Digital Realty signed-not-commenced backlog captures future annualized GAAP base rent awaiting lease commencement. Renewal rental-rate change then shows repricing on expiring Digital Realty leases. These measures describe different stages and must not be treated as interchangeable.
  • Development capacity and lease conversion: Capacity under construction and sellable cabinets under construction show near-term supply being built, while future development capacity shows longer-dated buildable runway. Pre-leased development percentage shows how much construction is already spoken for, estimated stabilized development yield frames expected economics at maturity, and signed-lease commencement lag shows how quickly bookings convert into in-place rent. These issuer-defined measures add development and lease-conversion context rather than forming a standardized cross-company formula.

See It in Company Research

These companies are examples of how the concept is reported or discussed in public filings. Definitions can differ by issuer; these links open company research rather than a normalized metric comparison.

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