Campus would have seen four data center buildings developed
A data center campus in Fredericksburg, Virginia, has been unanimously recommended for disapproval by the local planning commission.
As reported by the Fredericksburg Free Press, the campus failed to secure a green light due to issues with the planned transmission lines necessary to provide power to the site.
Penzance Development and "associated companies" are behind the project, which ultimately aims to develop four data center buildings at 1500 Gateway Boulevard in Fredericksburg, with a total of 2.1 million sq ft of data center space.
Full buildout is estimated for 2032.
The Planning Commission voted on the project earlier this month, opting 7-0 to recommend for disapproval as the proposed transmission lines would go through a car line and a play area, which would present obstacles.
Speaking on the project, Planning Commissioner Dugan Caswell said: “The plan itself is actually a pretty good plan. But when you just break it down into detriment and benefit columns, there’s just more facts in the detriment columns than the benefits.”
The project is estimated by Penzance to be able to generate up to $50 million in tax revenue annually and create around 240 jobs.
The site selected is outside of the "Technology Overlay District" and would increase the proportion of data center space in the city from 3.8 percent to five percent, more than the 2018 agreement of two percent dedicated to data center space.
The site was previously earmarked for a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic, though this was later moved to Spotsylvania County.
Earlier this year, Stack Infrastructure filed for a $10 billion data center project in Fredericksburg, located between Gordon W Shelton Boulevard and Hilton Drive, part of a Technology Overlay District.
Penzance Development is also working on a data center project in Chantilly, Virginia. The company received approval for the data center in July 2024, having first revealed plans for the project in October 2022. In September 2023, the county planners recommended approval for the development.
