Voices of the Industry: Data Centers, Investors and Title
Title Tenets: CRE Webinar
September 2026
What can stop a promising data center project before it gets off the ground? And what do developers and investors wish they had known from the start?
Join Stewart Title National Commercial Services for a special roundtable edition of Title Tenets featuring a peer-to-peer conversation about the real estate and title issues shaping data center investment and development. Moderator Brian Chen will sit down with four industry panelists to explore the challenges they encounter throughout the project lifecycle, from site selection and land acquisition through completion.
The conversation will cover common deal breakers, hidden real estate risks, development delays and the realities of working with local jurisdictions and communities. Panelists will also share lessons learned from past projects. They’ll explore how access to power, fiber and water influences site selection. They’ll also consider how changing regulatory and community expectations could shape where future data centers are built.
Register to hear real-world perspectives from professionals working across today’s fast-moving data center landscape.
Presented by:
Brian Chen
Vice President of Sales for the Energy & Infrastructure Group
Adam Kramer
Head of Data Centers at Panattoni Development Company
Maria Poyer
Principal, Strategic Programs & Global Expansion at CoreWeave
Read their bios here.
NCS Speakers
Moderator
Brian Chen
Vice President of Sales for the Energy & Infrastructure Group
Brian Chen is Vice President of Sales for the Energy & Infrastructure Group at Stewart Title, where he specializes in complex national transactions involving data centers, AI infrastructure, renewable energy, and large-scale infrastructure development. With more than a decade of experience spanning energy development, construction, title, and operations, Brian works closely with developers, investors, lenders, and legal teams to navigate the unique risks and challenges associated with mission-critical infrastructure projects across the United States.
Brian helps lead Stewart’s dedicated Energy & Infrastructure team, which focuses on supporting hyperscale data centers, AI-driven developments, and multi-site portfolio transactions with tailored underwriting and title solutions. Prior to joining Stewart, he worked in the civil engineering and survey industry, giving him a strong operational understanding of land development and infrastructure execution.
Brian is also a U.S. Army veteran who served six years, including a deployment to Afghanistan, and is a passionate advocate for America’s future in energy and technology infrastructure.
Panelists
Adam Kramer
Head of Data Centers at Panattoni Development Company
Adam Kramer is partner and head of data centers at Panattoni Development Company, where he leads the firm's North American Data Center Group and oversees the end-to-end development of data center projects across the continent. With a proven track record of developing over 1.2 gigawatts of data center capacity globally, Adam specializes in site selection, acquisitions, development strategy and client partnerships. Prior to joining Panattoni, he served as executive vice president of strategy at Switch, where he helped drive the company's expansion of hyperscale data center campuses and pioneered initiatives that advanced the use of 100% renewable energy across multiple markets.
Throughout his career, Adam has combined expertise in infrastructure development, sustainability, governance and stakeholder engagement to deliver transformative projects and long-term value. His leadership extends beyond the data center industry through his service as chairman of Renown Health and as a current trustee and former chairman of the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority, where he helped guide the airport's billion-dollar transformation efforts. Recognized by organizations including the EPA, Greenpeace and the White House for his contributions to renewable energy and sustainable development, Adam is committed to fostering collaboration, driving innovation and creating impactful solutions that benefit clients, communities and the industries he serves.
Maria Poyer
Principal, Strategic Programs & Global Expansion at CoreWeave
Maria builds teams, programs, and projects at the intersection of technology, infrastructure, and commercial real estate. Over her career, she's led $5B+ in real estate transactions and helped build and scale more than 2 GW of hyperscale data center development, with experience spanning acquisition, development, community engagement, and economic development.
Today, she is a Principal within Strategic Programs & Global Expansion at CoreWeave, helping support the infrastructure growth required for the next generation of AI.
Previously, Maria served as Head of Acquisition and Development at Verrus, where she built and scaled its acquisition and development platform and national data center portfolio. Before Verrus, she led data center acquisition and development at Microsoft and spent more than four years at Amazon, executing complex real estate transactions and building teams and programs focused on acquisition, due diligence, community engagement, and economic development.
Maria is passionate about building both infrastructure and the teams and communities behind it, and remain actively involved in industry leadership through CREW, NAIOP, and iMasons.
Jeffrey Moerdler
Partner at Haynes Boone, Chair of the firm's Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure Practice Group
Jeffrey Moerdler is a partner at Haynes Boone and chair of the firm’s Data Centers and Digital Infrastructure Practice Group. Based in New York, Jeffrey has more than 40 years of experience in commercial real estate law, representing clients across the data center, digital infrastructure, technology, communications, financial services, healthcare and education sectors. His practice includes acquisitions, sales, development, leasing, financing and real estate litigation, with a particular focus on the intersection of real estate, communications, technology and energy. Jeffrey has extensive experience advising owners, developers, landlords, tenants and communications service providers on data center development, acquisitions, leasing, colocation and related infrastructure matters.
Jeffrey is a frequent speaker and panelist on data center, digital infrastructure, telecommunications and commercial real estate topics. He is a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, serves on the faculty of the Advanced Commercial Leasing Institute and sits on the advisory board of the IMN Data Center Private Equity Dealmakers' Forum. He has also served as a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and in various New York State governmental and legal positions. Jeffrey has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, New York Super Lawyers, Chambers USA and Lawdragon 500 Leading Real Estate Lawyers.
Chris Colvert
Senior Land Manager at Coval Infrastructure
Chris Colvert is a Senior Land Manager at Coval Infrastructure with more than 20 years of experience in land and mineral rights negotiation for complex infrastructure projects. His expertise spans title, due diligence, risk mitigation, acquisitions, easements, and right-of-way, with a focus on structuring agreements that protect project interests while keeping development moving forward.
Throughout his career, Chris has built a reputation for navigating complex land and mineral issues through a practical, relationship-driven approach. He understands that successful land work is about more than closing a transaction. It is about identifying risk early, finding workable solutions, and building relationships that support a project from development through execution.
With two decades of industry experience, Chris brings a simple philosophy to every project: get the deal done right, not just done fast.