Amazon Plugs Into Another NoVA Data Center Project
Starwood’s development will be the largest data center site in Fairfax County
By Nick Trombola September 30, 2024 2:37 pm
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Amazon (AMZN) is set to become the proud user of what will be the largest data center campus in Fairfax County, Va.
A subordinate company of the e-commerce giant, dubbed Amazon Data Services, is conducting air pollution control permit applications for two data centers at 13860 and 13876 Redskin Drive near Hattontown, Va., just to the east of State Route 28 from Dulles International Airport, according to the Business Journals.
Those two sites, which Amazon calls IAD-500 and IAD-501, are the first two data center projects planned for Renaissance Technology Park, a 60-acre industrial development in the works from Starwood Capital Group. The property is currently entitled for more than 2.1 million square feet, according to the Business Journals — twice the size of another Amazon Web Services data center project nearby at 13600 EDS Drive.
Starwood, through an affiliate, purchased the Renaissance Technology Park site for about $134 million in 2019. Several old warehouses on the site are being demolished to make way for four data center buildings, along with a 6-acre substation, water storage facility and security infrastructure. The private investment firm earlier this year launched a partnership with data center project management firm Worldwide Mission Critical, which is overseeing the Renaissance park project. AXO Architects is the master planner of the project, per the Business Journals.
It was not immediately clear whether Amazon would buy or rent the data centers once they are completed.
“We are constantly evaluating new locations based on customer demand,” an AWS spokesperson told Commercial Observer via email. A spokesperson for Starwood declined to comment.
The sheer scale of the Renaissance park project notwithstanding, its development comes amid a concerted effort by Fairfax County legislators to restrict where and how data centers can be built in the region. The county Board of Supervisors earlier this month voted 8-2 to approve an ordinance mandating that project sites be at least 200 feet from residential areas, as well as new rules for noise reduction and limiting the scale of facilities to just 80,000 square feet in some areas.
Amazon meanwhile has continued expanding its data center empire in Northern Virginia over the past year. An Amazon affiliate recently acquired roughly 39 acres currently zoned for data center development in Manassas, Va., for $56.6 million, which followed its $218 million purchase of 91 acres in Manassas back in May.
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
