Data center work moves forward in Spotsylvania

Spotsylvania County is doing its part when it comes to data center growth in Virginia, the national leader when it comes to the computing-power facilities.

Work has started on two of five approved Spotsylvania data center projects, and a half-dozen other potential projects could bring more of the facilities to the county.

Data centers — cloud computing server farms housed in large buildings filled with computer equipment — have existed for more than half a century, but in recent years there has been a boom in construction of new facilities.

Virginia leads the way in data center growth, spurred by its $35 billion program to entice the spread of development in the form of tax incentives.

According to datacentermap.com , there are 2,987 data centers in the U.S., and 7,948 worldwide.

Virginia is by far the leader in U.S. data centers, with 479, according to Data Center Map. Texas (288) and California (282) are second and third.

Spotsylvania's Board of Supervisors amended the county comprehensive plan last year to accommodate data center growth. The board then approved the five data center projects.

Like other localities, Spotsylvania was drawn to the facilities largely because of the massive tax revenue they bring.

There are five approved data center projects in the county that could amount to at least 6.6 million square feet of warehouse space. The county also is working with applicants on another six projects that could result in more data centers. Those projects also could end up being approved for other uses, such as warehouse space.

Here is a rundown of the approved data center projects in the county:

Cosner Tech Campus

The Cosner campus is one of four county projects for tech giant Amazon, which plans to invest $6 billion in the county and build a total of 6.6 million square feet of data centers. Three of the four projects will include data centers. The other project is a utilities site to serve Caroline's new data center site.

Work started in mid-January on the first phase of the project.

The supervisors approved rezoning for the project from mixed-use to industrial for a 1.9-million-square-foot campus on 329 acres, near a new development, Alexanders Crossing, which was approved to have 2,607 houses. The data center project's approval removed more than 1,850 homes from the neighborhood development project.

The project, which will have access on Massaponax Church Road, also is close to the Lancaster Gate neighborhood.

The campus is expected to include five to six data center buildings along with substations, battery and fuel storage, water and sewer facilities and rooftop solar.

According to the county, Amazon is targeting a March completion on the first of two data center buildings in the first phase.

The county is reviewing the site plan for the second phase, which includes five more data center buildings.

Carters Store

This project calls for building up to 2.6 million square feet of data centers on 313 acres. The property is along Flippo Drive, east of Interstate 95. The property is surrounded mostly by rural, forested land.

There is no construction schedule yet, "but preliminary discussions are underway to begin proffered construction traffic studies," required before a site plan can be approved, according to county spokeswoman Michelle McGinnis.

Summit Crossing

The board approved rezoning for the project to build a campus along Summit Crossing Road, with up to 2.1 million square feet of warehouse space to be built on 231 acres.

The property is on the south side of Summit Crossing Road and is surrounded by undeveloped land.

There is no schedule for this project, but like the Carters Store project, the county and applicant are working on traffic studies.

Mattameade Tech Campus

The supervisors rezoned this site for a project to support a 4.5-million-square-foot data center project in Caroline County.

The proposal calls for a maximum of 50,000-square-feet of facilities for such things as substations, battery and fuel storage, offices, maintenance, water and sewer, water treatment, guard house and rooftop solar.

The property fronts Mallard Road and is near Mudd Tavern Road and I-95. The line between Spotsylvania and Caroline is on the east side of the property and the Matta River runs along the southern property border.

The county is reviewing the site plans for the project.

According to McGinnis, Amazon hopes to start grading work in November or December.

Powerhouse 95

This project is the only non-Amazon-related data center proposal approved at this point.

The project is part of the approved Hunters Ridge Office Park at Overview Drive and Cosner Drive just off of U.S. 17, and calls for at least 900,000 square feet of data centers.

"Rough grading" has started on the project, according to the county. But there is no current schedule for the rest of the work.

There could be more data centers coming as the county has six projects with the potential to include the facilities.

Here's a rundown on those proposals:

Hunters Ridge South

The applicant, American Real Estate Partners, seeks rezoning for this project, off Cosner Drive, south of U.S. 17 in the Carters Store area and in between the Hunters Ridge and Cosner Tech Campus projects.

The plans call for 2.28 million-square-feet of data center space on 68.58 acres.

Spotsylvania Techno Campus

Last year the board of supervisors approved the 314-acre Spotsy Techno Campus, which includes plans to build warehouses, offices and possibly data centers.

The property totals 314 acres and is located on the northeast side of the Route 1 and North Roxbury Mill Road intersection.

This project was "more broadly approved" as an industrial park but can include data centers.

The county believes the developer is "headed toward data center use there but have options for other industrial uses such as distribution facility," according to McGinnis.

Gateway Commerce Park

This proposed rezoning is similar to the above Spotsylvania Techno Campus in that the applicant primarily is seeking industrial uses, such as light manufacturing and warehouses.

But data centers also could be part of the package.

The site covers 203 acres along the west side of Route 1 and Hickory Ridge Road.

"There is data center potential there, but also could be a whole host of other uses under the industrial zoning designation," McGinnis said.

Ni Village

Rezoning for the 950-home, mixed-use project was approved in 2011, and data centers can be part of the development, according to the county.

But the applicant, Ni Village LLC, is seeking another rezoning for the site "to re-envision its layout, land use mix, etc. and that is still under review and not yet approved," according to McGinnis.

McGinnis said it is "speculative" to determine if data centers will be part of the new plans.

The property covers 325 acres and is adjacent to Luck Stone's Massaponax quarry and Massaponax High School.

Thornburg Industrial

This proposal's rezoning, which includes data centers, has been approved, but it's not clear if the facilities will part of the plans.

The site covers 124 acres along South Roxbury Mill Road and Dalton Lane.

At this point data centers haven't been proposed for the project and the development could end up with only light manufacturing and/or warehouses.

Rezoning has been approved for the Broaddus project, on 78.74 acres along the south side of Mudd Tavern Road, near the I-95 interchange.

The proposal calls for light industrial and/or warehouses, but also can include data centers.

Despite the approval, it's unclear whether data centers will be part of the project. Data centers have not been included in any plans at this point, according to the county.

Scott Shenk

( 540) 374-5436

Transportation and Spotsylvania County government and schools