Developers are looking to build a large data center campus in Gainesville, Prince William County, Virginia.
The I-66 and US 29 Technology Park would sit between Routes 55 and 29, and I-66, and would see up to six data center buildings and substation built on the site in Northern Virginia.
The 102-acre property is owned by Southview 66 LLC and Gainesville JM LC, and US real estate development firm Lerner is the developer on the project.
During the presentation, John Foote of Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh there was no end-user in place for the development.
The company is seeking to rezone a portion of the property from agriculture to business, along with a special-use permit to allow data center uses outside of the county’s Data Center Opportunity Zone overlay district and allow for up to 2.89 million square feet of data center development.
The proposed development is around 2,500 ft away from the current overlay zone, which PWC is currently exploring the possibility of expanding.
The Prince William County Planning Commission deferred the request until October to gather more information and gain preliminary results of the overlay expansion study.
InsideNOVA reports that some commissioners raised concerns about energy usage and its compatibility with surrounding uses, in addition to the fact that the development didn’t have a planned user.
“This would be a massive data center complex,” said Commissioner Richard Berry. “I believe such a development is inconsistent with surrounding uses.”
However, the PWC staff recommendation to the commission was to approve the development.
The county has seen two separate applications for 1 million sq ft+ campuses this month; one from Amazon in Manassas and another from an as-yet-unidentified company in Haymarket. An 800-acre development is also in the process of being proposed in the county.