Prince William County OKs Contentious Digital Gateway Project
Project would span 2,100 acres and add 34 data centers over two decades
By Keith Loria December 13, 2023 5:26 pm
reprints
A proposal that could transform Prince Willam County into the world’s largest data center hub has been passed by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.
A 27-hour meeting that began at 10 a.m. on Tuesday finally concluded Wednesday afternoon when the majority Democratic board approved the PW Digital Gateway project, which would add up to 34 data centers across 2,100 acres in the western part of the state over two decades.
The proposal had been widely contested by community members for the past two years and was opposed by the Prince William County Planning Commission and the county’s professional planning staff. Northern Virginia already has the largest concentration of data centers in the world, and opponents pointed to water concerns and the strain on the electrical grid, as well as the loss of wildlife and undeveloped land.
Meanwhile, proponents argued that the complex would bring nearly $460 million to the county that otherwise would go elsewhere. “If they’re not built here, they’re going to be built somewhere else in Virginia, and they’re going to be on the PJM [power] grid,” Ann Wheeler, chair-at-large of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said at the meeting. “And these 30 groups that oppose them are all conservation groups that oppose all development. That’s what they do.”
During the meeting, representatives from QTS Realty Trust and Compass Datacenters, the companies set to develop the project over the next two decades, made their case to the supervisors as to why their rezoning applications should be approved. The final vote of 4-3 set the plan in motion.
“QTS is grateful to Prince William County and the Board of Supervisors for entrusting us with stewardship of the Prince William Digital Gateway, which is projected to bring an estimated $500 million in annual tax revenue to the county,” a spokesperson for QTS told Commercial Observer by email. “QTS will continue to work diligently with county staff, elected officials, and residents as it carries out its environmental and responsible development commitments.”
The companies will build approximately 100-foot buildings on roughly 900 acres next to the Manassas National Battlefield, the tourist site marking the first major Civil War battle in 1861.
One man attended the public meeting in Civil War-era clothing, while a Native American prayer vigil prior to the meeting’s start included a re-enactment of the wildlife that would be lost to development.
The timing for the project was not clear at the end of the meeting. Requests for comment from the developers and planning commission were not immediately returned.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
