The Daily Dig
Walbridge has launched L5 Mission Critical, a new Chicago-based company that will handle data center services from commissioning through day-to-day critical operations. The Detroit-based construction firm tapped Matt Landek, former Global President of JLL's Data Center and Critical Environments division, to serve as President and CEO.
Landek's Track Record
Landek previously led a workforce of 2,500 employees across 340 data centers globally at JLL. He'll now work alongside Walbridge leadership, including John Rakolta III, the company's President and Chief Administrative Officer.
L5 Mission Critical won't just serve Walbridge's own construction clients. The new company will also work with third-party data center owners and operators, spanning hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, AI/neocloud, and investor/developer clients.
U.S. data center capacity is expected to double within three years, with nearly 45 GW of additional capacity planned, according to Data Center Frontier. That growth is running into power availability, grid reliability, and community opposition, all of which are making projects harder to deliver.
Rakolta said the goal is "one partner across design, construction and operations," cutting down the time clients spend managing handoffs and risk.
Training the Trades
L5 is also building a data center workforce training curriculum, designed to create pathways from entry level critical facility technician roles up through infrastructure engineering and operations leadership. The goal is to address the technician shortage while opening new career routes in the trades.
Walbridge isn't new to this space. The company launched its mission critical business in 2016 and has since delivered more than 50 data center projects. Those projects represent over 6 gigawatts of capacity, either built or in development, across Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, Texas, and Mexico.
Snapshot:
Company Launched: L5 Mission Critical
Parent Company: Walbridge
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Parent Company Headquarters: Detroit, MI
President & CEO: Matt Landek
Walbridge President & Chief Administrative Officer: John Rakolta III
Year Founded: 2026
Services Offered: Commissioning, site readiness, steady-state critical operations, retrofits, project management
Client Base: Hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, AI/neocloud, and investor/developer data center owners and operators
Landek's Prior Role: Global President, JLL Data Center and Critical Environments
Landek's Prior Scope: 2,500 employees across 340 data centers globally
Market Context: U.S. data center capacity expected to double within three years, with nearly 45 GW of additional capacity planned, per Data Center Frontier
Walbridge Mission Critical Business Launched: 2016
Walbridge Data Center Track Record: More than 50 projects, over 6 gigawatts of capacity constructed or under development
Walbridge Data Center Markets: Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, Texas, Mexico
Walbridge Founded: 1916, Detroit, MI
Walbridge Workforce: More than 1,500 professionals in North America
Notable Walbridge Project: The Barn, Saline Township, Michigan, described in the release as the largest economic investment in Michigan's history
Industry Recognition: Ranked top 10 data center constructor by Engineering News-Record
TheJobWalk Thoughts
This is a business expansion move as much as an executive hire. Walbridge isn't just adding a name to the org chart, they're trying to own the handoff between construction and operations, the point where Rakolta says clients currently spend time managing risk and coordination between separate partners. Collapsing that into "one partner across design, construction and operations" is a real pitch to hyperscale and enterprise clients tired of managing multiple vendors through a project's life cycle.
The workforce piece matters just as much as the market numbers. The release frames technician shortages as just as big a constraint on growth as power and infrastructure, which tracks with what most GCs and subs are already seeing on data center bids: schedules held up by staffing as much as by utility interconnects. A firm building its own training pipeline now is positioning to have people in place when the next wave of projects breaks ground, not scrambling for them after award.
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