Data center provider Digital Realty has bought a 13-acre plot in Ashburn, Northern Virginia for what could a record $2.14 million per acre.

The $28m purchase may mark the first time that land in the county had sold for more than $2m an acre.

Data center alley ain't cheap

Last July, Cologix purchased 22.6 acres in Ashburn at a rate of $1.68m per acre, a figure then thought to be a new high for the industry.

There may have been other $2m per acre purchases in the county since then that have not been made public.

Digital Realty bought the land from Airbus America for $28m according to the Washington Business Journal. The property was assessed to be worth $12.9m, the land was priced at $5.7m and the remaining $7.2m was for a 124,000 square foot warehouse which was occupied by Airbus subsidiary Satair.

The subsidiary has outgrown the warehouse, just three years after Airbus pumped $1m into upgrading the space, and is now looking to expand.

In Digital Realty’s most recent quarterly earning's report, the company detailed that it had spent $236.5 million on a 424-acre plot to west of the Dulles International Airport, as well as $9m on another plot in the county.