Amazon Web Services (AWS) no longer plans to build data centers on George Washington University’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Loudoun County, Loudoun Now reported.
AWS purchased the 122-acre campus earlier this year for $427 million. The GW Hatchet, the university’s student newspaper, was the first to report details of the sale.
AWS had planned to build four data centers and three parking garages on the campus.
Amazon is also donating 25 acres of the land to Loudoun County. Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall announced the news at a Tuesday press conference, along with Josh Weissman, AWS vice president for data center delivery.
“Over the past weeks, I, alongside the county administrator and county attorney, held meetings with Amazon to reimagine the use at George Washington University and Technology Campus,” Randall said. “My goal was to disallow data centers or infrastructure that could support data centers on this property. Through our collaborative, respectful conversations, Amazon has agreed to forego its proposed application for data centers, and of note, forego any legal action to realize data center development on this site.”
Randall said the 25 donated acres will be zoned for mixed-use development, with plans for a community arts center and indoor sports facility. The agreement also allows GW to remain on the property for up to five years, The Hatchet reports.
The deal comes after backlash from GW students, Loudoun County officials, and residents regarding the data center plan for the land. Weissman, a Loudoun resident himself, said his team approached Randall to work out a solution.
“We made the call to pivot away from it and work with chair Randall to come up with something better, and we’re super proud of what we did. We’re super proud of the partnership we have with her,” Weissman said at the press conference. “There was not a moment where it was decided that this was a bad idea. We just heard from the community. We partnered with Loudoun, and we just decided this was just the right thing to do.”
