Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday against an amendment that would have paved the way for a massive new data center.
The new center — named the Dulles South Innovation Center — would have spanned 1,940 acres in the Gainesville Magisterial District. The land is north of Sudley Road adjacent to the Loudoun County boundary to the north and Fairfax County to the east. It’s also north of the Prince William Digital Gateway Special Planning Area.
Sanders Lane Assemblage I LLC submitted the amendment to the board. It requested that the land, which is currently zoned for agriculture and forestry, be rezoned for industrial use. If approved, the developer could then file a request to rezone the area to accommodate a data center and electrical substation.
PW Digital Gateway
The board’s decision comes on the heels of controversy surrounding the Digital Gateway data center project. That project, approved by the county in 2023, would have created the largest data center corridor in the world. It included 37 data centers on land directly next to the Manassas National Battlefield Park.
The Digital Gateway plan faced resident opposition and legal challenges. Two lawsuits were filed claiming that the county did not adhere to legal notice requirements when advertising public hearings about the vote.
A judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and said the rezonings were void. Both the county and the data center developers appealed. In March, the Virginia Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.
Prince William County reportedly spent about $1.7 million to defend the project. In April, the board voted to withdraw all legal appeals. Last week, the project’s developer also withdrew its legal appeal, Inside NoVA reported.
Plan for Dulles South Innovation Center courtesy Prince William County
