What Does Digital Core REIT Do? Digital Realty's Singapore-Listed Landlord Turns Toward Asia

Digital Core REIT is a Singapore-listed trust that owns stakes in data centres leased mainly to large cloud and software companies, and pays out the rent in US dollars. Its sponsor is Digital Realty, one of the largest data-centre landlords. At 30 June 2026 it owned 11 data centres valued at US$1.9 billion at its share, 97.3% occupied. In the first half of 2026 it paid 1.80 US cents a unit, the same as a year earlier.

AI DATA CENTERS · Data as at 29 Jul 2026, deal terms 12 Aug 2026 · Next update: after the unitholder vote and the 3Q 2026 business update
Affects: AI Data Centers · Singapore · Japan · Hyperscalers

Digital Core REIT is the second Singapore-listed landlord on the AI Data Centers layer, after Keppel DC REIT. The difference is where the halls are. Keppel's are mostly in Singapore; Digital Core's are mostly in Northern Virginia, Frankfurt and Silicon Valley, with a small stake in Osaka. A REIT (real estate investment trust) is a listed trust that owns property and pays out most of its income. Read What Is an AI Data Center? first, then its sponsor Digital Realty.

In short: Digital Core REIT owns stakes in finished data centres, leases them to about 120 customers, and distributes all of its taxable income twice a year. In 1H 2026 revenue was US$88.6m, net property income US$43.7m and distributable income US$23.3m. Its sponsor both sells it buildings and buys them back. A deal agreed on 12 August would sell three North American stakes to Digital Realty and buy into one Singapore and one Osaka hall, lifting Asia-Pacific from 11% to 22% of assets. It still needs a unitholder vote.

Education only, not advice to buy or sell any security. Figures are from Digital Core REIT's 1H 2026 results and its August and September 2026 presentations, dated as shown. All $ figures are US dollars unless marked S$, C$ or ¥.

Numbers that matter

Distribution per unit, 1H 2026

1.80 US cents

Flat on 1H 2025; paid 24 Sep 2026 · 29 Jul 2026

Paid

Assets at its share

US$1.9bn

11 data centres in the US, Canada, Germany and Japan, all freehold · 30 Jun 2026

Concentrated

In-service occupancy

97.3%

Rising to 98% when the Linton Hall lease starts on 1 Dec 2026

Filled

Renewal rent change

+25.0%

Cash rent on renewals signed in 1H 2026; US$5.0m of annual rent signed

Repricing

Aggregate leverage

39.2%

36.3% pro forma for the August deal; cost of debt 3.6% · 30 Jun 2026

Watch

Asia-Pacific share of assets

11% to 22%

If the sponsor deal closes; Singapore enters at 4% · 12 Aug 2026

Pending vote

Status chips are Second Order's read. The filings name customers only by type, for example a Fortune 50 software company, so we do not name them either.

What does Digital Core REIT actually do?

Three steps, in order.

Own a stake. Lease. Pass on.

1. It owns stakes in finished halls, usually alongside its sponsor. It holds 90% of its US and Toronto buildings, 65% of its Frankfurt campus and 20% of two Osaka halls. Digital Realty owns the rest. At 30 June 2026 Northern Virginia was 37% of assets, Frankfurt 24%, Silicon Valley 13%, Osaka 11%, Los Angeles 8% and Toronto 7%.
2. It leases them to big technology tenants. About 120 customers pay the rent. The largest, which the filings call a Fortune 50 software company, paid 30.3% of annual rent at 30 June 2026. The top three paid 58.4% between them (our arithmetic: 30.3 + 15.4 + 12.7). 80% of rent came from customers rated investment grade.
3. It passes the income on. Distributable income is based on 100% of the taxable income available to unit holders, paid every half year in US dollars. The REIT is managed by Digital Core REIT Management and listed on the Singapore Exchange as DCRU.

The half was shaped by one empty building. 8217 Linton Hall in Northern Virginia was being refurbished, which is why net property income fell. On 5 January 2026 the REIT signed a 10-year lease for the whole building with an investment-grade global cloud company, starting 1 December 2026. The company expects about US$14.8m a year of net property income from it, or US$13.3m at its 90% share, about 35% more than the previous rent.

Then came the Asia move. On 12 August 2026 it agreed to sell 90% of 371 Gough Road in Toronto, 90% of 200 North Nash in Los Angeles and 39% of 8217 Linton Hall to Digital Realty. With the money it would buy 2.5% of 11 Loyang Close in Singapore and another 25% of Digital Osaka 3, both from Digital Realty. For Singapore context, see our Singapore note on the new data-centre licence law and power allocation.

How does Digital Core REIT make money?

It collects rent, pays the property and financing costs, and distributes what is left. The 1H 2026 table in order:

• Revenue — US$88.6m, down 0.4% (US$88.9m a year earlier).
• Net property income — US$43.7m, down 5.7%, after property expenses of US$44.9m, which rose 5.4%. The company puts the drop down to the Linton Hall refurbishment.
• Finance expenses — US$14.1m, down 4.6%.
• Distributable income — US$23.3m, down 0.2%, giving 1.80 US cents a unit on about 1,296m units.

Our arithmetic. Net property income was 49.3% of revenue (43.7 ÷ 88.6). The filings do not split property expenses into power and other costs, so we do not say how much of that is electricity. Distributable income was 53.4% of net property income (23.3 ÷ 43.7). The unit price at 30 June was US$0.505 against net asset value of US$0.79 a unit, a discount of about 36% (1 − 0.505 ÷ 0.79). That discount is why it buys back units: 8.0m in 1H 2026 at an average of US$0.488, which the company says added about 0.4% to DPU.

The renewal engine looks strong. New and renewal leases signed in 1H 2026 carry US$5.0m of annual rent, and renewals were signed at 25.0% more cash rent than before. When Linton Hall starts paying, the company says occupancy rises to 98% and the average lease length to 5.1 years.

Who gets paid. Unit holders, after lenders and the manager. Digital Realty, as sponsor and as counterparty on the August deal. Who pays. Cloud, software and social-media tenants in the halls. Money sticks when renewals keep resetting upward and the Linton Hall lease starts on time.

What limits it?

The sponsor deal first. Concentration second. Funding third.

1. The August deal is not done. It needs unitholder approval and is expected to close before year-end; a notice of an extraordinary general meeting was filed on 7 October 2026. Gross sale proceeds are about US$316m and the two purchases about US$176m, leaving about US$140m. Of that, about US$117m would repay debt and up to US$20m would buy back units. The company expects about 4.1% DPU accretion and leverage to fall from 39.2% to 36.3%. Digital Realty is on the other side of every leg, so the prices were agreed with the sponsor; the company says on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.
2. The Singapore entry is small. SIN12 is a 42,100 kW building, 94% occupied, with an agreed value of US$2.7bn for the whole. A 2.5% stake is about 1.05 MW of IT load at its share (our arithmetic: 42,100 × 2.5%). Osaka is the bigger move: 25% more of a 19,900 kW hall is about 5.0 MW (19,900 × 25%). After the deal Singapore would be 4% of assets and Osaka 18%.
3. A few tenants and one market. One customer pays about 30% of rent, rising to 33% in the deal presentation's pro forma, and Northern Virginia is 37% of assets. The September presentation, in a market section supplied by datacenterHawk, notes that Virginia's sales tax exemption for data centres was the central fight in the state budget and was still unresolved.
4. Leverage is close to the line. Aggregate leverage of 39.2% leaves about US$420m of borrowing headroom before leverage would reach 50%, the company's own measure. Debt is US$716m, all unsecured, with about 70% of interest exposure hedged, and no maturities until December 2027. Interest cover is 3.2 times.

Where the filings are silent we say so. They do not name tenants, give rent per kilowatt, or show what the Singapore stake will earn on its own, so we do not estimate any of those.

Who else does this?

Roles, not a league table.

The two Singapore REITs are mirror images. Keppel DC REIT is mostly Singapore and mostly short colocation leases. Digital Core is mostly the US and Europe, leased mostly to a few big tenants, and is only now buying into Singapore. Each has a sponsor: Keppel for one, Digital Realty for the other.

What would change this view?

The read on the model weakens if:

• Unitholders vote the August deal down, or it slips past year-end, which would leave Asia at 11% and leverage near 39%.
• The Linton Hall lease does not start on 1 December 2026, delaying about US$13.3m a year of income at its share.
• The largest customer, about 30% of rent, does not renew when its leases come up.
• Virginia removes or narrows its data-centre sales tax exemption in a way that hurts tenant demand in Northern Virginia, which is 37% of assets.
• Leverage moves toward 45% or interest cover drops below 2.5 times.

It stays intact while renewals keep repricing upward, Linton Hall starts paying on schedule, and the sponsor deal closes on the terms announced.

Practical takeaways

• Digital Core REIT owns stakes in sponsor-built data centres, leases them to a few large tech tenants and pays out all taxable income in US dollars.
• 1H 2026 (29 Jul): DPU 1.80 US cents, flat; occupancy 97.3%; renewals at 25.0% higher cash rent; leverage 39.2%.
• Our arithmetic: units traded about 36% below net asset value at 30 June, and the top three customers paid 58.4% of rent.
• The 12 August sponsor deal would double Asia-Pacific to 22% of assets, but the Singapore stake is only about 1 MW at its share.
• The stuck step is the vote and the 1 December Linton Hall start date.

FAQ

What does Digital Core REIT do?
Digital Core REIT owns stakes in data centres in the US, Canada, Germany and Japan and leases them to large cloud and software companies. It is listed in Singapore, sponsored by Digital Realty, and pays out its income to unit holders in US dollars twice a year.

Who is Digital Core REIT's sponsor?
Digital Realty. It owns the rest of most of the buildings and is the buyer and seller in the deal agreed on 12 August 2026.

Does Digital Core REIT own data centres in Singapore?
Not yet at 30 June 2026. Under the August agreement it would buy a 2.5% stake in 11 Loyang Close, a 42,100 kW data centre in Singapore, for S$87 million. The deal needs unitholder approval and is expected to close before year-end.

Why did net property income fall in 1H 2026?
Mainly because 8217 Linton Hall in Northern Virginia was empty while it was refurbished. A 10-year lease for the whole building starts on 1 December 2026.

How much debt does Digital Core REIT have?
US$716 million at 30 June 2026, all unsecured, with aggregate leverage of 39.2% and an average cost of 3.6%. The company expects leverage to fall to 36.3% if the August deal closes.

Is Digital Core REIT a good investment?
We do not make buy or sell calls, and nothing here is a recommendation. We can tell you what it owns, how it gets paid and which numbers would change the picture. The decision is yours.

Keep reading on the map

• The layer: AI Data Centers
• The term: What Is an AI Data Center?
• The sponsor: What Does Digital Realty Do?
• The other Singapore REIT: What Does Keppel DC REIT Do?
• Peers: What Does Equinix Do? · What Does NEXTDC Do? · What Does Applied Digital Do?
• Where it happens: Singapore

The members cut on a stuck step is already live: When utilities bill data centers before power, where does cash stick?. This page stays the free Stack read of the Digital Core REIT model.

Sean

Writes Second Order by TKN — a plain-English map of AI infrastructure. Who gets paid, where money sticks, which step is stuck. Not investment advice.

Author page → · Editorial standards →

How we check this

Figures come from Digital Core REIT's 1H 2026 results release and presentation of 29 July 2026, its transaction release and presentation of 12 August 2026, its investor presentation of 14 September 2026 and its meeting notice of 7 October 2026, plus the peer filings listed below, each dated. Where we work something out ourselves, the arithmetic is shown in full. The filings do not name tenants or give rent per kilowatt, so we do not estimate either.

Last reviewed: 11 Oct 2026 · Next review: after the unitholder vote and the 3Q 2026 business update
Spot an error? Tell us and we will correct it and note the change here.
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References

1. Digital Core REIT, Digital Core REIT Reports Results for the First Half of 2026 (company, SGX-listed trust), 29 Jul 2026 — revenue, net property income, distributable income, DPU, occupancy, WALE, leasing, buy-back, debt, Linton Hall lease
2. Digital Core REIT, 1H26 Financial Results presentation (company presentation), 29 Jul 2026 — portfolio table by building, ownership stakes, top 10 customers, NAV per unit, debt profile
3. Digital Core REIT, Digital Core REIT Reaches Agreement to Establish Presence in Singapore, Expand in Japan, Sell Interests in Three Assets in North America (company), 12 Aug 2026 — sale and purchase prices, net proceeds, debt repayment, buy-back, 4.1% DPU accretion, leverage 39.2% to 36.3%, unitholder approval
4. Digital Core REIT, Enhancing Portfolio Quality (transaction presentation) (company presentation), 12 Aug 2026 — SIN12 and KIX12 statistics, current and pro forma asset mix, top customers, pro forma DPU and leverage
5. Digital Core REIT, Investor Presentation at Maybank–REITAS–SGX S-REIT Day (company presentation), 14 Sep 2026 — Northern Virginia sales tax exemption note, transaction terms restated
6. Digital Core REIT, Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting of Unitholders (company, SGX filing), 7 Oct 2026 — the unitholder meeting notice filed after the August agreement
7. Digital Realty, Second Quarter 2026 Financial Supplement and earnings release (company, SEC exhibit 99.1), 23 Jul 2026 — bookings, backlog, 310 data centres, 2,799 MW occupied of 3,102 MW, Northern Virginia stake, debt
8. Keppel DC REIT, Unaudited results for the first half year ended 30 June 2026 (media release) (company, SGX filing), 23 Jul 2026 — distributable income, DPU, occupancy, WALE, leverage, cost of debt