US real estate firm Peterson Companies has filed to develop a large data center campus in Virginia's Stafford County.

Via Timmons Group, Peterson-linked affiliate Real Estate Pursuits 2 LC has filed for a permit with the Norfolk District of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The application is related to impacted waters near the Rappahannock River for a data center project.

Located off Kings Highway around Albion Lane on the banks of the Rappahannock River, Project Sisson would total 16 two-story data center buildings totaling 3.8 million square feet (353,030 sqm) and four substations. Cooling water for the campus will come from the Little Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant, located less than two miles from the development.

The development would impact around four acres of wetlands and/or open water.

“The location proposed data center campus location was chosen due to the robust infrastructure available to the applicant with the capabilities needed to support their needs,” the application states. “The proposed Site was primarily selected due to its proximity to the Northern Virginia data center network, where approximately 70 percent of global Internet traffic passes through.”

Over the summer, Real Estate Pursuits 2 LC filed to rezone 850 acres of land from agricultural and light industrial to heavy industrial for the ‘Forest Lane Data Center’. At the time, little information about the affiliate or the project was available.

Real Estate Pursuits 2’s address in the US Army application matches Peterson’s listed address, and Peterson's email addresses are included in the documents.

Stafford County lies to the south of Prince William County and southeast of Fauquier County, on the Potomac River. It is not a county known for its data center developments, though in recent years, it has lowered taxes for data center equipment.

Peterson Companies was previously developing the 1GW Stafford Technology Campus. The 500-acre site, on the east side of US Route 1 at I-95 in the Falmouth area of the county, could total up to 23 buildings with a total of 5.8 million sq ft (538,838 sqm) of floor space. Stack has since taken over the site.

Adam Cook, Peterson’s managing director for development, previously told DCD Stafford County appealed because the company had an existing landbank there and the county had the right mix of utility and technology infrastructure to support its plans.

Amazon also has a campus planned in Stafford.

Founded in 1965, Peterson is a privately owned developer of office, retail, industrial, self-storage, and residential properties. While not largely known for its data center developments, the company has previously partnered with Stack Infrastructure for a campus in Prince William County’s Manassas. Peterson is also planning sites in Virginia’s Culpeper and Loudoun counties.

The application notes a ‘Ren Fair’ site located north of King’s Highway and in Stafford County was considered: that site could support up to 13 buildings and three substations, but would have impacted more wetlands. The applicant does not currently own this land.

A Blaisdell Site located north of King’s Highway in Stafford County was also considered, again able to support up to 14 buildings with four substations. This development would impact more streams than the chosen project, is further away from the treatment plant, and close to a residential area.