Town council officials in Leesburg, Virginia, have voted in favor of a zoning application ahead of a proposed data center development.
The Leesburg Town Council in Loudoun County this week announced it has voted to approve a rezoning application that will allow data centers and additional industrial and research park uses on two parcels of vacant land to the south of Leesburg.
The applicant, Springfield East, LC, was seeking permission to amend the concept plan for the property, known as Village at Leesburg Land Bays D&E, to allow for the development of data centers and other additional uses currently permitted in the I-1 (Industrial/Research Park) zoning district.
Springfield East and real estate firm Kettler Inc. have proposed a data center and related substation on one of the two parcels, located at 42830 Golf Club Road and 1749 Russell Branch Parkway SE totaling 33.77 acres. The planning commission had recommended approval of the application.
Council documents show the data center could span 200,000-250,000 sq ft, and LoudounNow suggests the site could offer 54MW. No end customer has been named.
The two parcels, on the east side of Crosstrail Boulevard, are separated by Russell Branch Parkway. The site containing the proposed data center abuts the Luck Stone quarry. A self-storage unit sits nearby.
Founded in 1977, Kettler is traditionally focused on multifamily developments. In the documents, Springfield East says it is the long-term owner of the plots.
“Springfield East, LC has explored many development opportunities over the last 20 years—yet the land remains vacant,” the application stated. “Bifurcated by Russell Branch Parkway into irregularly shaped parcels and encumbered with significant environmental and easement constraints, the land has proven a challenge for development."
It continues: "Despite being zoned for industrial uses, the developable portion of the property is too small and oddly shaped to be viable for most industrial development. Additionally, the existing proffers stifle the property’s development potential.”
Last year Leesburg council unanimously passed design guidelines for data centers in the town's limits. Unlike neighboring Ashburn, Virginia's Leesburg is not currently home to any data centers, though this may be soon to change.
At the time of the guidelines vote, the town had multiple active rezoning applications that may be for data center developments. One is near the former Westpark Golf Course, another in the Oaklawn development, and a third at the east end of the Village at Leesburg.
Stack has since announced plans for a 72MW campus in Leesburg; the planned campus is on Compass Creek Parkway, close to Leesburg Airport and just north of Microsoft’s Compass Creek campus.
TA Realty recently announced the entirety of a planned 430MW campus in Leesburg has been leased to a cloud provider.
