Menlo Equities has broken ground on a new data center in Virginia.

Menlo Digital, Menlo's dedicated data center platform, announced this week that construction has commenced on its MD-DC1 data center in Herndon, Fairfax County.

The two-story, 307,000-square-foot (28,521 sqm) facility will deliver 48MW of IT capacity.

Set on nine acres at 13775 McLearen Road, MD-DC1 will feature four 12MW data halls, supported by 67MW of utility power from Dominion Energy Virginia's Lincoln Park Substation. Delivery of the powered shell is slated for the Summer of 2026.

"Breaking ground in Herndon represents more than a single project milestone - it's part of a broader expansion strategy across the country," said Jane Vaughan, chief development officer at Menlo Digital. "Our portfolio now spans multiple Tier 1 markets, each designed to meet the power density, sustainability, and operational requirements that define the next generation of cloud and AI workloads."

The site was previously home to a 2MW data center and office property operated by Orange Business Services, which has since been demolished.

The previous building was constructed in phases between 1984 and 1989 and featured a 28,750 sq ft (2,670 sqm) data center. Orange, and predecessor Equant, had occupied the site since at least the early 2000s.

The site was long owned by Lexington Realty Trust. Menlo acquired the site in June 2023.

Clune Construction is serving as the general contractor on the project.

US private real estate investment and development firm Menlo Equities developed its first data center in Santa Clara back in 1998. Today, the company owns 14 operational facilities across the US.

The company launched Menlo Digital earlier this year, saying it has a development pipeline totaling close to 800MW across five sites in the US. It has also partnered with energy firm NRG for further developments.

In Virginia, the company is developing three sites. As well as Herndon, the company is developing a 144MW, 600,740 sq ft (55,810 sqm) facility in Loudoun County’s Sterling. The four-story facility is due to go live in Q2 2028.

Further south in Richmond, the company is planning a 300MW campus totaling 1.2 million sq ft (111,484 sqm) across 74 acres.

In Phoenix, Arizona, Menlo is planning a 257MW campus. The 38-acre site is set to host five buildings totaling 1 million sq ft (92,903 sqm), with the first shells delivered in Q2 2026.

In Sunnyvale, California, the company is planning a 49MW site. The 9-acre site can host a two-story building totaling 244,215 sq ft (22,688 sqm).

Founded in 1994, real estate firm Menlo owns data centers across California, Virginia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Texas. It previously acquired nine facilities from Digital Realty in 2021, including sites in Silicon Valley, Virginia, Texas, and New Jersey. It recently acquired another facility from Digital in Georgia.

In February, energy firm NRG entered into separate Letters of Intent (LOIs) with two developers, Menlo Equities and PowLan, to potentially develop data centers at existing NRG sites. The Menlo Equities LOI includes an initial phase of 300MW, and could total 1GW+ at existing NRG sites. Further details haven’t been shared.