Amazon abandons Virginia data center — Fortune
Amazon has abandoned plans to build a data center on the former site of George Washington University in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The company also plans to transfer about 25 acres of land to the county for public facilities, Fortune reports.
The agreement, which Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall called Project Potomac Promise, provides for Amazon to withdraw its submitted development plan and abandon legal action to implement the data center project. The company will also work with the county to rezone the remaining area for mixed-use development, predominantly housing.
Land for public facilities
Amazon is to allocate about 25 acres to the county along Route 7. The stated market value of this land is approximately $65 million. The site is planned to house a public arts center and an indoor sports and recreation complex.
In addition, the company will contribute $5 million to Loudoun County's affordable housing fund. Randall said authorities would hold public meetings to gather residents' proposals on the future use of the area. In her assessment, the rezoning process will take about a year even under an expedited procedure.
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Abandonment of the data center project
At the end of July, Amazon submitted the plan for the Bridgefield Tech Center project, which envisaged four two-story data center buildings with a total area of more than 800,000 square feet. In July, Algonkian District Board of Supervisors member Julie Briskman opposed the construction of such a complex, calling the area an opportunity for the development of housing, education, research, and other sectors of the economy.
George Washington University announced the sale of the campus in February without disclosing the buyer or the value of the deal. In March, the student newspaper The GW Hatchet established that the buyer was Amazon Data Services, which purchased the site for $427 million. Joshua Weisman, vice president of Amazon Web Services for data center delivery, said the company had taken the community's position into account and reached an agreement with the county.
Loudoun County is one of the world's largest data center hubs. According to local authorities, it has about 233 such buildings, and revenue from taxes on their real estate and property amounted to approximately $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2026.
