Real estate firm Penzance has secured Amazon as the tenant for an in-development data center in Fairfax County, Virginia.

The company this week announced that Amazon will lease the 45MW, 240,000 sq ft (22,296 sqm) facility, located at 4151 Autopark Circle in Chantilly.

Construction work has started and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027. The facility will utilize air-cooled systems and rooftop HVAC units.

Penzance has executed a lease with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which will operate and staff the data center.

“This is a high-impact, future-ready facility - and it’s built for what comes next in AI, cloud, and Edge computing,” said John Kusturiss, partner at Penzance. “Chantilly offers unmatched connectivity, and this site is designed to deliver for today’s infrastructure needs while anticipating tomorrow’s technologies.”

Founded in 1996, Penzance is focused on residential, industrial, office, and data center developments. It owns a number of office, industrial, and flex sites in the wider DC area.

A Penzance affiliate acquired the vacant Chantilly parcel in August 2022, with the site previously zoned for a car sales site. News that Penzance was looking to develop in Chantilly first arose in October 2022. The company secured approval from the county board in January 2024 and announced work had started in October of this year.

Josh Weissman, AWS director of data center delivery, said: “We’re continually innovating to ensure our data centers fit responsibly into the communities we call home. As part of this project, we’re proud to partner with Penzance and Fairfax County to preserve and enhance 67 acres of open green space, create public walking trails, and design a campus that operates quietly, efficiently, and with low environmental impact.”

He continued: “This site, like our other facilities, will use minimal water and rely only on outside air for cooling 95 percent of the year. Our backup generators ensure continuity for the hospitals, first responders, schools, and other essential services that rely on AWS to stay online while meeting strict requirements for their use during the rare times the grid is interrupted. We’ll keep raising the bar on sustainability, safety, and community partnership so these investments in US innovation also strengthen the local economy and the quality of life our neighbors expect.”

Amazon has a major and growing presence across Virginia. Loudoun County hosted Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) first data centers when the book company launched its first cloud facilities in 2006.

Today, the company is known to own or lease data centers around Haymarket, Manassas, Ashburn, Sterling, Chantilly, Warrenton, and McNair, to name a few, spanning across Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William, and Fauquier Counties.

The company’s exact footprint isn’t known, but it totals more than 50 data centers across the region, with dozens more in development. Greenpeace estimated the company had 1.7GW of capacity back in 2019, having more than doubled that figure since 2015. Amazon's US-East Northern Virginia cloud region has been described as the largest single concentration of corporate data centers in the world.

As well as growing its existing footprint in Loudoun, Fairfax, and Prince William with new facilities, DCD has seen AWS active with plans for new projects in Fauquier, Culpeper, King George, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Louisa, Orange, and Caroline Counties.

“This project represents the kind of future-forward infrastructure investment that keeps Fairfax County at the forefront of a rapidly changing global economy. We are proud to lead the future of digital infrastructure innovation, and even prouder to do it in partnership with local developers like Penzance,” said Jeffrey C. McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County board of supervisors. “As AI, quantum, and advanced computing accelerate, the regions that modernize their digital backbone will shape the future. Northern Virginia helped build the digital infrastructure that powered the internet and cloud revolutions, and today, we are laying the foundation for the next era of innovation.”