Amazon has filed an application to transform George Washington University’s campus in Loudoun County, Virginia, into new data centers, a proposal that’s drawn pushback from residents and an elected official.
Last week, Amazon submitted a site plan application seeking approval for four data center buildings at George Washington University’s Virginia Science and Technology campus in Ashburn.
Supervisor Juli Briskman, whose district includes the project site, said in a lengthy social media statement that the plan calls for 800,000 square feet of data center space.
The application, called “Bridgefield Tech Center,” aims to use what Brinkman described as “outdated zoning policies” to complete the project through a process that wouldn’t require review by the Loudoun County Planning Commission, public hearings or from the Board of Supervisors.
The proposal comes about five months after Amazon Data Services bought the GW campus for $427 million. Amazon said it plans to honor the university’s ability to continue operating in Ashburn for up to five years, and construction wouldn’t start until the campus is fully vacated.
Still, the prospect of more data centers in an area known as “Data Center Alley” has frustrated some residents.
“It’s crazy,” Loudoun resident Miriam Musau said. “They are invading and making this area like a concrete jungle.”
Resident Ann Williams said, “I don’t know when you can say we have enough. We just have enough.”
The George Washington University campus is within the Route 28 tax district, where data centers have been allowed by right. Briskman said that means a 1972 zoning ordinance applies instead of current rules.
A county zoning administrator opinion issued in 2000 also classified the data centers as office use under the older zoning ordinance, potentially allowing them to move forward by right in areas where office uses are allowed.
Loudoun’s updated zoning ordinance doesn’t allow data centers by right on land designated for office, research or development uses. They have to go through an exception process that includes public hearings and a Board of Supervisors vote.
“When GW received this land as part of a donation, it was envisioned to be research and development and higher education types of uses,” Briskman told WTOP. “This proposal is not only inappropriate if you think about the original intent of that property, but it’s also inappropriate because it’s too close to homes, it’s too close to our beloved Bles Park, it’s too close to the Potomac River.”
In the lengthy social media statement, Briskman said she’s plans to fight the proposed data centers “every step of the way.”
Amazon, meanwhile, told WTOP in a statement that it has been one of Loudoun’s largest taxpayers, paying more than $2.1 billion in property taxes and fees between 2016 and 2025.
The concept site plan, the company said, is the first formal step “in a lengthy review process.”
“We look forward to working with Loudoun County and community stakeholders as the review process unfolds,” the Amazon statement said.
Geri Timon, a Loudoun resident, said she opposes the data center development because, “We moved here for the rolling hills, and we’re getting more and more technologically connected. We need to see more green.”
Rick Brazelton, though, said he appreciates the revenue data centers bring to the county, but “I do think if they’re tearing down a college to put one up, that’s kind of excessive.”
Last month, Briskman spearheaded a plan for Loudoun County staff to provide more information on the feasibility of a data center moratorium by September.
While data centers provide a steady revenue stream, Briskman said the county can likely stop allowing new data centers and still “realize a good amount of revenue” for several years.
“Unfortunately, Loudouners don’t want data centers anymore, and they don’t want more data centers even if they are bringing in a good amount of revenue,” Briskman said. “Loudouners have been asking us for a really, really long time to please curtail or stop the unchecked growth of data centers in our county.”
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