Chuck Kuhn Expands Data Center Empire, $100M at a Time

A Virginia-based real estate mogul has spent the past few years collecting data center-permitted land at a remarkable clip, and there’s little sign he’s slowing down. 

Chuck Kuhn, investor and founder and CEO of JK Moving Services, just spent another $100 million on an 84-acre parcel in Leesburg, Va., that’s planned for data center development, Commercial Observer has learned. 

Kuhn purchased the land — located in data center mecca Loudoun County — from an entity that shares an address with the William J. Cammack Private Foundation, per property records. The parcel is between Virginia State Route 267, Shreve Mill Road and Sycolin Road, just south of Leesburg Executive Airport. 

A representative for Kuhn did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Due to the tax implications of such a large parcel sale, the seller opted to reinvest $75 million from the Leesburg deal into another property, via a 1031 exchange, which allows the entity to defer capital gains taxes. In that deal, the foundation affiliate acquired a portfolio of 11 net-lease properties from a variety of sellers across Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia, anchored by retail tenants such as Chick-fil-A, WaWa, Firestone and 7-Eleven. 

Avison Young’s Jonathan Hipp and Richard Murphy led a team that arranged the 1031 exchange deal.

“For many landowners, [sales similar to the Leesburg parcel] represent once-in-a-generation opportunities, but they can also come with surprisingly large tax consequences,” Hipp said in a statement. “By using a 1031 exchange, this client was able to defer those taxes and convert a single land sale into a diversified portfolio that generates steady income over the long term.

“It’s similar to how investors diversify in the stock market,” Hipp added. “Instead of relying on one asset, we spread the investment across multiple properties, tenants and markets while still maintaining direct ownership and the tax benefits of real estate. We’re seeing many more conversations happen well before a property is listed. Once a transaction closes, the opportunity to use 1031 strategies is gone, so you have to be proactive about planning ahead.”

For Kuhn, the Leesburg purchase is yet another in a long string of data center-related property deals that have made him one of the most prolific investors in the region.

In November, for example, Kuhn’s company sold a 97-acre parcel known as the Twin Creeks assemblage to SDC Capital Partners for $615 million. The deal shakes out to over $6.3 million per acre — one of the highest, if not the highest, prices per acre ever paid in Virginia. Kuhn purchased the land for a collective $57 million throughout 2021, per reports at the time. 

In early 2024, Kuhn sold a 124-acre parcel in Prince William County to Microsoft for $465.5 million. Kuhn had reportedly purchased the site the previous year for just $46.9 million. 

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