Digital Gateway Developer Files Last Minute VA Supreme Court Appeal: Report

MANASSAS, VA – Developer QTS is continuing the legal fight to build a massive data center in Prince William County, the Prince William Times reports, despite having lost the support of both the county and its commercial partner.

The data center builder filed a notice of appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court hours before the April 30 deadline to continue challenging lower court rulings that would have ended the project, according to the report.

The Prince William Times says QTS’s appeal claims that Prince Williams’ Court of Appeals erred when it “mistakenly” found “violations of highly technical notice provisions that harmed no one” in its March verdict against the developers, and on the basis of these technical provisions overturned a project that QTS says would have brought billions of dollars of investment and thousands of jobs to the state.

QTS is forging ahead with its appeal despite losing the support of co-developer Compass on April 29, when it said there was no "viable path forward" for the project, and losing the support of the county government April 15.

Digital Gateway was envisioned as a huge technological hub of more than 35 data centers spread over around 2,000 acres of mostly rural land, including areas near the Manassas Battlefield Park. The project has been fought by community members for years, since just after the contentious December 2023 rezonings that cleared its path.

Two lawsuits were filed against the project shortly after its approval, one by the Oak Valley Homeowners Association and another by the American Battlefield Trust. Opponents argued that the project would bring noise and water pollution to the county, tax its resources and threaten its rural and historic character, and that the county hadn't given proper public notice for the endeavor.

A judge first sided with opponents of the project in August 2025. A Virginia Court of Appeals ruled with them again on March 31, finding that the county hadn’t given proper public notice for the project.

QTS argues that those rulings were incorrect.

The Prince William Times reports QTS still has about 812 acres under contract with 12 area landowners, but nearly half of those property owners are already suing to get out of those 2022 contracts.

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