Virginia's Innovation Gateway data center proposal has been met with opposition from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
The proposal seeks to develop a 300-unit apartment building alongside 700,000 sq ft (65,030 sqm) of data center space on 29 acres of land on Route 28 near the Innovation Center Metro station, the quarry, and the Waterside development.
The applicants for the project are real estate firms BlackChamber Group and Fairfield Residential.
At a meeting on July 10, the project - which was previously recommended for denial by Loudoun County's Planning Commission - was met with skepticism, with the board arguing that it does not match the 'Urban Transit Center Place Type.'
The primary issue is the data center - which is not designated as a core, complimentary, or conditional use in Urban Transit Centers.
“[This place type] is intended to support a mix of commercial and entertainment uses, residential and community uses, high density buildings six plus stories tall and a grid iron street network that includes parks public art and plazas,” said project manager Marshall Brown.
Supervisor Koran T. Staines proposed that the data center element be removed from the application, however applicant representative Antonio Calabrese refused.
Calabrese pointed out that, along with the data center, the Innovation Gateway would see 100 percent affordable housing units developed, 80,000 sq ft of office space, a three-acre community park, and $16 million dedicated to road construction which would help other nearby developments.
Regardless, County Chair Phyllis Randall said: "I believe our long look for the Urban Policy Area is a performing arts center, it’s a convention center, it is diversifying our economy in many ways. And while I do really want attainable housing, I do not believe attainable housing snuggled up against a data center is appropriate in the Urban Policy Area.”
Regardless of uncertainty from the Board, the item will be forwarded to a September meeting for a vote, though it is unlikely to be approved unless the data center element is removed from the application.
Earlier this month, Loudoun County voted in favor of removing data centers as a by-right use on all properties in all zones.
The decision means that all data center proposals in the county will require the board's discretionary approval, rather than being allowed by default under planning regulations.
The board also voted to replace Urban Employment Place Types with Urban Transit Centers, where the policies do not permit data centers, as well as revising the Suburban Policy Area, Joint Land Management Area, and the Urban Policy Place Type maps.
