Manchester Financial Eyes 400MW Data Center at Former Navy NAVWAR Site in San Diego

Manchester Financial Group is exploring the development of a 400MW data center on a 70-acre parcel at the former Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) headquarters site in San Diego, California, according to local reports. The proposal, if realized, would mark the first data center project for the San Diego-based real estate firm and would transform a federally owned site long slated for mixed-use redevelopment into one of the region's largest computing facilities.

The site, located at Naval Base Point Loma, has housed NAVWAR—the Navy's technical authority and acquisition command for C4ISR systems, business information technology, and space systems—since 1997. Thousands of NAVWAR personnel currently work out of World War II-era aircraft hangars that the Navy has acknowledged are "well beyond their useful life and negatively affect NAVWAR's cyber warfare mission, security, and workforce safety." In 2024, the Navy selected Manchester Financial and Edgemoor Infrastructure and Real Estate, an affiliate of Clark Construction, to redevelop and replace the aging command center under a 99-year lease, with the firms obligated to deliver modern offices for NAVWAR in return.

Manchester had previously presented plans for the site centered on housing—including units for military families—alongside hotels, restaurants, retail, and possibly a stadium, hospital, and university. Any final design is expected to remain a mixed-use development incorporating homes and retail. The company confirmed that early-stage discussions about a data center are underway but stressed that no project has been approved. "The potential plans for this site continue to be refined, and no final project has been approved," Manchester Financial said in a statement. "Our first priority is delivering modern facilities for NAVWAR, and we remain committed to working with the Navy and other key stakeholders throughout this process."

The data center concept has drawn criticism from local officials who say they were left in the dark about the change in direction and argue that housing would better serve the community. "It should be a new community, a new mini downtown if you will, right next to the highway with access to transportation, where we can have housing," Rep. Scott Peters said. "A data center isn't neighborhood-serving. It's not really something that belongs here. It belongs in a more remote, industrial place." Councilmember Marni von Wilpert similarly told Fox that Manchester had promised "an entire portfolio of housing and park space and commercial real estate and job creation," adding, "I found out in a newspaper article that they may be changing their mind."

The proposal reflects a broader push by the US government to open federal land to data center development, with several Department of Energy and Department of Defense sites identified as potential candidates. Brookfield and SoftBank are already set to develop two large projects on DOE-owned land. For Manchester, the pivot toward computing infrastructure underscores how surging demand for AI and cloud capacity is reshaping real estate priorities—even at high-profile urban sites where housing and public amenities were once the expected outcome. How the company balances its lease obligations to the Navy with local opposition will determine whether the 400MW vision advances.