Another data center campus is being proposed in Virginia’s King George County.
The Free Lance-Star reports that Chantilly-based real estate firm Potomac Development Group will hold an informational session for residents about the “Dahlgren West” project later this week.
The company is seeking to develop a 500-acre data center campus near the Navy base in Dahlgren but is yet to file applications with the county. Information about any intended end customer was not shared.
The project could total 9 million square feet (836,130 sqm) across 10 to 15 buildings on a site off James Madison Parkway. If the zoning approval is granted by King George County this year, it's hoped site work could begin in 2025.
Potomac Development, which owns a portfolio of commercial, logistics, and multifamily properties, is working with the family of the late Ed Veazey to get the needed zoning, prepare the site, and then turn it over to one or more end-users, said Nick Over, one of the company’s principals.
“I want to stress, it’s early in the process,” Over said, “We really want to listen to the community and take that feedback and perfect our application before we bring it to the county.”
The greenfield land, off US highway 301 and part of the Cleydael settlement area, was designated as a technology zone by the county board of supervisors last year, offering incentives for qualified projects.
King George County is located south of Washington DC and east of Fredericksburg, on the southern side of the Potomac River. Not traditionally part of Virginia's data center market, King George added data centers to its zoning ordinance in 2019.
Amazon is proposing an 869-acre data center campus in the county, at the old Birchwood power plant on State Route 3 near Sealston.
However, after voting to renegotiate the deal, the county board recently declared that King George was at “war” with Amazon Data Services. The board unanimously voted to send a letter to the planning commission requesting that it reconsider the rezoning of Amazon's land and convert it from industrial back to agricultural.