In just the past week, three separate Virginia data center projects have been rejected or recommended for denial by local officials amid growing local pushback in the world’s largest data center market.
Lawmakers in Chesterfield County, Fauquier County and the city of Chesapeake all voted against proposed data center campuses. Together, the three projects represent close to 1,000 acres of new development — and around 4.5M SF of data centers — that are now very much in jeopardy.In Chesterfield, the future of one of the largest planned projects in the booming Richmond-area data center market is in doubt after planning officials recommended the denial of zoning changes required for a proposed 740-acre campus. Denver-based developer Tract applied in November to rezone the site for up to 2M SF of data center space across as many as 11 buildings.
While the final decision on the proposed rezoning rests with the county’s Board of Supervisors, Chesterfield’s Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend against approving the changes, citing potential traffic impacts and a lack of details on how the site would be developed compared to similar proposals, Richmond BizSense reports....
RSK: You are most likely to see more of the NIMBY protests for data center development. Some of the reasons are real but I do not buy the more traffic argument. Data centers do not employ a lot of people...rather machines. Plus new cooling methods can abate the noise level.
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- - Volume: 25 - WEEK: 26 Date: 6/24/2025 10:32:49 AM -