Historic Merrifield Garden Center to Close, Site Slated for Data Center Redevelopment
December 31, 2025
A landmark of Northern Virginia's retail landscape is making way for the region's dominant industry. The longstanding Merrifield Garden Center has announced it will cease operations, with its prime Fairfax County property destined to be redeveloped into a data center. This transition underscores the intense pressure for land and infrastructure in what is arguably the world's most critical data center market.
The closure marks the end of an era for the family-owned business, a destination for gardeners for decades. The specific timeline for the shutdown was confirmed on December 31, 2025, though a final closing date has not been publicly specified. The property, located at the bustling intersection of Gallows Road and Lee Highway, is poised for a significant transformation. While the identity of the data center developer and the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, the move aligns with a clear pattern in Northern Virginia, where commercial and sometimes residential parcels are increasingly repurposed to support the insatiable demand for cloud computing and digital infrastructure.
The scale of the planned development has not been released, but projects in this core market often involve investments ranging from hundreds of millions to over a billion dollars, with power capacities frequently exceeding 100 megawatts. The conversion of this sizable retail site is a direct response to the critical shortage of viable, power-rich land in the area, known as "Data Center Alley."
Industry analysts view this as a quintessential example of market forces reshaping suburban geography. The data center industry's growth, driven by artificial intelligence, cloud migration, and omnipresent digital services, consistently outpaces the availability of prepared land. The acquisition of well-located properties with access to robust power grids and fiber optic networks is a strategic imperative for operators. The redevelopment of the Merrifield site will contribute additional capacity to a cluster that already handles a substantial portion of global internet traffic.
For the local community, the change represents the loss of a cherished business but also reinforces the area's economic identity as the indispensable backbone of the digital economy. The project will likely involve extensive construction and generate significant long-term tax revenue, continuing the region's complex evolution from a quiet suburb into a global technology nexus.
Source: wusa9
