In a power-constrained market, undeveloped sites with available power become more interesting. That's what's happening in Northern Virginia, where H5 Data Centers has shifted gears on its property in Ashburn. The company recently demolished an existing building on its 5-acre site on Beaumeade Circle, near a major Internet intersection, and will instead build a three-story data center.
H5 has owned the site since 2015, when it began offering up to 20 MW of capacity in a 70,000 square foot powered shell. But the development calculus in Ashburn shifted last summer when Dominion Power began telling data center companies that power for some new facilities in Eastern Loudoun County will be delayed for years. The delays are due to bottlenecks in the utility’s transmission infrastructure, which likely won't be meaningfully upgraded until early 2026.
Last week H5 said it has broken ground on a 255,000 square foot data center on its Beaumeade property "with power availability" for a phased deployment of up to 42 megawatts (MW) of critical load. The company said that pre-leasing is underway, with availability in the third quarter of 2024, when H5 expects to have 8 MW of critical power available. The company expects to have an additional 8 MW in early 2025 and the rest in early 2026.
“Upon completion, the data center will provide our customers with the ability to meet their stringent security and reliability requirements," said Josh Simms, founder and CEO of H5 Data Centers. "H5 Data Centers is investing extensively across our portfolio and today's announcement of our Ashburn groundbreaking is an exciting start to a busy year of development.”
EdgeCore Teams with Penzance on Sterling Project
The H5 project is part of the "now and later" development strategy in Ashburn,. as companies with power race to market, while other projects are pre-positioned for the 2025-26 timeframe when Dominion expects to have additional capacity.
EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure this week said it will expand its presence in Northern Virginia by co-developing a 7.6-acre site in Sterling with Penzance, a Washington, D.C. based real estate developer. The parcel is planned to accommodate a 285,000 square foot, three-story data center, capable of supporting 36 MW of critical load. The site plan approval process is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
“With the acquisition of additional land in Northern Virginia, EdgeCore adds another key data center location to our portfolio and continues to advance our focus on rapid growth and development in key data center markets,” said Lee Kestler, CEO, EdgeCore. “We are pleased to have partnered with Penzance on this project and are grateful for the acceleration they are bringing to the process through their deep regional expertise and connections.”
The new campus is about 2 miles from EdgeCore's existing site, which offers 348,000 SF of space and supports 54 MW of critical load.
GI Partners Marketing Ashburn Site
Meanwhile, GI Partners has begun marketing a property at 21625 Red Rum Drive in Ashburn as a data center opportunity, offering a powered shell with availability in July of 2024. The site, which was previously a Gold's Gym fitness center, is in Data Center Alley adjacent to Waxpool Road and near the Sabey Data Centers campus.
The property listing offers a two-story facility totaling 157,600 SF of "shovel ready" space, with each floor housing a 12 MW data halls. Uo to 34 MW are said to be available with "delivery schedule available upon request."
Another future project has been proposed by FinMarc Management, which has filed plans with Loudoun County to redevelop a Telos office and data center complex near Route 7 as a 180,000 SF data center, but likely not until 2026, according to DCD.
