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Chelsea Pullen

Partner, Real Estate Practice at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Washington, D.C., United States

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Why they matter

A just-hired Simpson Thacher data center leasing partner with live, cross-firm visibility into hyperscaler lease terms, comps, and deal flow across the U.S. and Asia.

Background

Chelsea Pullen is a digital infrastructure and real estate lawyer who advises data center operators, developers, hyperscale cloud providers, private equity firms, and infrastructure funds on leasing and platform transactions. She built her data center leasing practice at Greenberg Traurig's Northern Virginia office before joining Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as a Partner in its Real Estate Practice in April 2026. She holds a J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law (Order of the Coif, 2016) and a B.A. from George Mason University (2010).

Notable deals

  • 2026
    Joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as Partner in the Real Estate Practice, part of a two-partner hire to bolster the firm's #1-ranked global data center transactions team
  • 2025
    Deal-team member (Northern Virginia Corporate Shareholder) representing the seller in the sale of a fully-leased ~40MW hyperscale data center in Inzai, Japan, one of the first asset-level sales of an operational hyperscale facility in Japan
  • 2025
    Named as a core member of Greenberg Traurig's Digital Infrastructure, Data Center and Cloud Computing group upon its formal integration into the firm's global Real Estate Practice

Call-prep brief

Background

  • J.D., West Virginia University College of Law (2016, Order of the Coif); B.A., George Mason University (2010)
  • Built her data center leasing practice at Greenberg Traurig (Northern Virginia), then joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's Real Estate Practice as Partner in Washington, D.C. in April 2026

Current focus

  • Full lifecycle of data center leasing: site selection, mission-critical and colocation leases, build-to-suit, wholesale colocation, and joint ventures
  • Adjacent digital infrastructure work: dark fiber, cell towers, rooftops, subsea cable systems, DAS/WiFi builds — relevant to any platform diligence beyond core data centers
  • Cross-border exposure via a 2025 Japan hyperscale data center sale (Inzai), suggesting active APAC deal relationships

What she cares about

  • Deep in the AI-driven data center leasing boom; her prior firm explicitly repositioned its data center group under real estate in 2025 to capture this demand
  • Recently recruited into a market-leading platform (Simpson Thacher ranked #1 globally in data center deal count/volume) — likely focused on establishing herself and building a book at the new firm

Sensitivities

  • Very recent lateral move (April 2026) — she may be cautious discussing prior-firm (Greenberg Traurig) client relationships or matters
  • Client confidentiality on active leasing negotiations; keep questions at the market/structure level rather than asking about specific counterparties

Questions to ask

  1. What lease structures and terms are hyperscalers currently pushing hardest on (term length, power step-ups, exit/assignment rights)?
  2. How are colocation vs. build-to-suit economics shifting as AI-driven power demand tightens site availability?
  3. What diligence red flags does she see most often in data center leasing portfolios from an investor's perspective?

Outreach draft

Subject
Data center leasing market perspective — quick call?
Hi Chelsea, Congratulations on your move to Simpson Thacher — exciting timing given the firm's leadership in data center transactions. We're a private equity team actively evaluating opportunities in data center colocation and digital infrastructure, and your work on leasing structures (including the recent Inzai, Japan hyperscale sale) caught our attention. Would you be open to a brief call to share your perspective on current market dynamics — lease terms, power availability, and diligence considerations we should have on our radar? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

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