SecondBloom expands into data center asset sales as project cancellations mount

SecondBloom Auctions is launching a data center practice to sell stranded equipment and whole sites for lenders, developers and bankruptcy estates. The move comes as canceled projects, voter pushback and financing stress leave billions of dollars in power and cooling gear tied up in stalled builds.

Why it matters: - Data center cancellations are leaving behind expensive equipment that lenders and owners need to recover quickly. - SecondBloom Auctions is moving into that gap with auction, sealed-bid and whole-facility sales for data center assets. - The shift matters because the same power and cooling gear can often be redeployed to other projects, which may shorten lead times and reduce losses.

What happened: - SecondBloom Auctions announced a new data center practice covering secured lenders, private credit funds, developers, operators, receivers and bankruptcy trustees. - The firm is now offering sales of data center infrastructure through auctions, sealed bids and whole-facility transactions. - The company said lenders, developers and trustees can contact SecondBloom through its data center page or by email at blake@secondbloomauctions.com.

The details: - At least $260 billion of data center investment was canceled after local opposition in 2026 through early October, including about $130 billion in the third quarter alone, according to Heatmap Pro data reported by Heatmap News. - Voters backed limiting data center development in all but one of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states on November 3, according to Ballotpedia. - ING is reportedly seeking buyers for a portfolio of 12 data center loans worth about $500 million, with bids due November 19. - The ING portfolio includes a $25 million slice of the Stargate campus in New Mexico, the AI venture backed by OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle. - DatacenterDynamics described that portfolio sale as the first of its kind at that scale made up entirely of data center debt. - JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley were reported earlier this year to be exploring sales of data center construction debt to non-bank lenders. - SecondBloom said the new practice covers power equipment, cooling systems, facility infrastructure, IT hardware and whole sites. - The power category includes standby generators, switchgear, transformers, automatic transfer switches and UPS systems. - The cooling category includes chillers, cooling towers, CRAH and CRAC units, and liquid-cooling equipment. - The facility infrastructure category includes racks, containment, busway, fire suppression and modular data halls. - The IT hardware category includes servers, storage and networking gear, with data destruction handled by certified ITAD partners. - The whole-site category includes stalled construction sites, finished campuses and the land and buildings under them. - SecondBloom runs online auctions, sealed-bid sales, UCC Article 9 dispositions, and sales in receivership and in Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy on its own auction platform. - Removal is handled by designated rigging contractors.

Between the lines: - SecondBloom is extending a liquidation model it already used in controlled-environment agriculture into data centers. - The firm previously ran the liquidation of Bowery Farming's $70 million vertical farm in Locust Grove, Georgia, in November 2025. - SecondBloom also handled a 500-plus-lot sale for Eden Green Technology in Cleburne, Texas, closing in April 2026. - The company is currently offering the Planted Detroit campus by sealed bid. - Longer lead times for electrical equipment are adding pressure to stalled projects. - Procurement data published by Terrapin Construction Group shows medium-voltage switchgear lead times have stretched from about 24 weeks before the pandemic to 52 to 80 weeks. - Bloomberg reported, citing Sightline Climate, that 30 to 50 percent of planned 2026 U.S. data center capacity could slip or be canceled because transformers, switchgear and related gear cannot be delivered on time.

What's next: - SecondBloom is positioning itself to sell stranded data center assets for lenders, developers and trustees as more projects slow, stall or get canceled. - The firm is likely to see demand from parties trying to recover value from equipment already purchased for projects that no longer move forward. - Buyers may also use these sales to cut long procurement timelines by redeploying equipment to hospitals, factories or other data center builds.

The bottom line: - SecondBloom is betting that the data center boom's first wave of cancellations will create a durable resale market for power, cooling and infrastructure gear.