Data Center Developer Under Contract To Buy Loudoun's Biggest Metro-Adjacent Site
The 280-acre Loudoun County site once envisioned as a 14M SF mixed-use development, dubbed International City, may instead be turned into a data center campus.
Kansas-based data center developer QTS Realty Trust is under contract to acquire the site, located near the Silver Line's future Loudoun Gateway Station, the Washington Business Journal reports. The deal was reportedly reached for $80M, a significantly lower price tag than initially expected.
The site's owner, H. Christopher Antigone, was expelled from the management group in March 2016. Partner Jay Taustin, the son of Antigone's original partner, decided earlier this year to market the property for sale. In February, he retained a JLL team led by Managing Director Mark Levy.
Antigone had long planned to build a 14M SF mixed-use development that would have included a convention center, an entertainment district, more than 4,000 hotel rooms and office space. The site has also been eyed as a potential landing spot for Washington's NFL team to move its stadium to Virginia. It is the largest piece of vacant land next to an upcoming Metro station, the kind of property planners crave for a mix of residential, retail, office and hotel uses.
While a data center campus would create significantly less fanfare, and exponentially less foot traffic and commerce, than a mixed-use development or a football stadium, it would add to a corridor that has become a national hub for data centers. Last week, California-based Vantage Data Centers announced plans to build a $1B campus on a 42-acre site in Ashburn.
