NoVA Data Center Development Site Sells for $57M

An entity associated with e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) is buying a development site in Northern Virginia to further expand its data center empire. 

An limited liability company dubbed Minnieville Capital Acquisitions, which gathers and entitles land for data centers for its clients, acquired about 39 acres at and near the Colchester Industrial Park in Manassas, Va., for a collective $56.6 million, according to the Business Journals. The sellers of the land, which totaled eight parcels, were a collection of LLCs and private investors, per the Business Journals. 

The parcels constitute a chunk of a 64-acre collection, for which Prince William County supervisors approved a rezoning in June that allows for the construction of three new data centers and substation, despite vehement local opposition and unanimous recommendation of rezoning denial from the county’s planning commission. 

The project is dubbed Mid-County Industrial Park. It’s unclear if Minnieville Capital Acquisitions plans to buy the rest of the acreage.

Either way, a post office box associated with Minnieville Capital Acquisitions in this case is shared with an Amazon facility in Spokane, Wash., according to property records. 

“We are constantly evaluating new locations based on customer demand,” a spokesperson for Amazon Web Services told Commercial Observer via email.

More data center development is par for the course for Amazon. Aside from the dozens of other data centers Amazon owns in Virginia, the behemoth in May purchased a 91-acre site in Manassas — less than three miles from the Mid-County Industrial Park — dubbed Parsons Farm for $218 million. Before that, it purchased a separate 140 acres for data center development in Manassas in January for $152 million. 

Meanwhile, logistics giant Prologis is attempting to rezone some 94 acres of land in neighboring Loudoun County to pave the way for a data center facility that could top 4 million square feet. It remains unclear when exactly the county could make a decision regarding Prologis’ request, though reception toward data center development in the region has clearly cooled lately. 

Loudoun County leadership considered legislation earlier this year aimed at limiting where data centers can be built and restricting their appearance, as well as potentially requiring them to provide some of their own power on site rather than use local power grids.

Nick Trombola can be reached at NTrombola@commercialobserver.com.