Tech Giant Drops Plans For Data Centers On Ashburn Campus: Loudoun County Chair

ASHBURN, VA – Amazon has abandoned plans to build data centers on a 120-acre campus in Loudoun County and will instead donate some of the land back to the county and dedicate the rest to mixed-use and primarily residential projects through a deal struck with the county and announced by the board of supervisors' chair on Tuesday.

Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall announced the agreement, dubbed Project Potomac Promise, on Tuesday evening. According to Randall, Amazon has agreed not to build data centers on the former George Washington University Science and Technology campus in Ashburn, which it acquired in February for more than $420 million.

Instead, Amazon will withdraw its application to build four data centers on the complex and will move to have the rest rezoned for mixed-use and residential purposes, with data centers excluded as a possible use.

As a condition of the rezoning, Amazon will donate 25 acres to the county for a new community arts center and sports facility, Randall said. Amazon has also agreed to donate $5 million to the county’s housing fund.

The county had already said publicly that data centers could not be built on the campus without explicit board approval, and members of the board and the public had expressed opposition.

In the release from Randall’s office, Amazon Vice President for Data Center Capacity Delivery Josh Weissman said, “While we see the property’s legal development potential differently than the county does, we concluded that the best outcome for all is to come together on a shared vision for this campus rather than engage in costly litigation.”

Randall said she and Loudoun County’s administrator and attorney had been in discussion with Amazon for weeks to strike a deal that would “disallow any data centers or infrastructure that could support data centers on this property.”