Virginia data center project ends after court fight over county approval process

The project ends after the court case

The Digital Gateway plan ended after GW Acquisition Co., LLC, a QTS Data Centers affiliate, withdrew petitions seeking Supreme Court of Virginia review of a March appellate ruling.

The withdrawal closed a two-year case over public notice, rezoning procedure, and county approval rules that traveled through circuit court and appellate review before remaining appeal efforts ended.

The plan covered a large campus

QTS Data Centers and Compass Datacenters planned as many as 37 facilities on rural land in Prince William County’s Gainesville area near the historic Manassas National Battlefield Park.

The proposed campus drew scrutiny from residents, preservation groups, nearby landowners, county leaders, public speakers, planning staff, and zoning reviewers during the lengthy local review process before supervisors voted.

County approval came first

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors approved Digital Gateway rezonings in December 2023 after a 27-hour public hearing marked by extensive community debate over the proposed campus.

The approvals covered three related rezoning applications, including Compass Datacenters Prince William County Campus 1, Digital Gateway North, and Digital Gateway South, for the broader local project area.

Notice issue has been moved through the court

Residents, homeowners, and preservation interests challenged the county’s approval process, arguing that public hearing advertisements failed to meet required state and local notice rules before supervisors voted on applications.

The case centered on procedure rather than server demand, tax revenue, or project design, making notice requirements the main issue for judges reviewing appeals in the rezoning dispute.

Circuit judge voided approvals

Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly A. Irving voided the rezonings in August 2025 after finding county advertising fell short of required notice rules before construction could proceed.

Her decision paused land disturbance and construction activity while the case advanced, leaving the project’s future tied to appellate review and developer choices by the companies still involved.

Appeals court upheld ruling

The Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld Judge Irving’s decision on March 31, 2026, after reviewing challenges from the county and developers in the Digital Gateway rezoning case.

The court found the Board’s advertising for the December 2023 public hearing violated Virginia Code requirements and Prince William County zoning notice rules governing those rezoning approval decisions.

Fun fact: Virginia moved its capital from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780, making Richmond the state’s government center during the Revolutionary era.

Appeal path narrowed

Prince William County supervisors chose not to continue appealing, and Compass Datacenters stepped away from further review before the final QTS affiliate withdrawal in the Digital Gateway case.

GW Acquisition Co., LLC, a QTS Data Centers affiliate, remained tied to the last Supreme Court of Virginia review effort until the withdrawal left the appellate decision intact.

Little-known fact: Most data centers rely on air cooling and liquid cooling to keep servers and other hardware within safe temperature ranges.

The company defended its process

QTS Data Centers described the original approval as the result of years of planning, analysis, public review, and county-level consideration before supervisors voted on final rezoning applications at issue.

The company connected the plan to infrastructure investment, local tax revenue, and long-term employment, though those projected benefits depended on surviving review and legal success before any construction.

Opponents marked the outcome

The Coalition to Protect Prince William County and the American Battlefield Trust welcomed the withdrawal after years of organizing, lawsuits, public testimony, and hearings over the contested project.

Coalition to Protect Prince William County Executive Director Elena Schlossberg and American Battlefield Trust President David N. Duncan framed the result around community persistence and preservation near Manassas.

The second proposal also failed

Prince William County supervisors rejected the Dulles South Innovation Center on July 7, 2026, after a five-hour public hearing on another large campus proposal in the Gainesville District.

The Board unanimously denied the comprehensive plan amendment, blocking an early land-use step toward rezoning agricultural land for industrial use during the county review process for the proposal.

Dulles South had a wider scale

The Dulles South Innovation Center called for about 43 million square feet, making it almost twice the planned size of Digital Gateway in western Prince William County as proposed.

The proposal covered nearly 2,000 acres near Sanders Lane, close to the Loudoun County border, and raised another land-use question for elected supervisors during the public review process.

Virginia debate keeps growing

The commonwealth holds one of the world’s largest data center concentrations, especially in Northern Virginia, where power demand and land-use concerns shape local policy debates and infrastructure planning choices.

Residents who oppose more projects often cite electric grid pressure, environmental impacts, noise, and changes to rural or residential areas near proposed campuses during local government review processes.

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Poll shows weaker support

A March survey found 35% of Virginia registered voters felt comfortable with a data center in their community, down from 69% three years earlier in the same poll trend.

That poll found 57% of registered voters believed data centers hurt home energy and utility bills, while 14% viewed them as helpful for those costs in the results.

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What stands out more, Virginia’s halted data center project after the court fight, or the broader questions about local approval processes for major developments? Share your thoughts.

This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.

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