Here, we provide clear, straightforward answers to the questions we hear most often about our projects. You’ll find information on a wide range of topics, from project details and timelines to community considerations and the development process. As conversations continue and new questions arise, we will keep this section updated so it remains a helpful, reliable resource for the community.
Tract is a master developer of data center campuses throughout the United States. Tract’s approach is to draw upon the expertise of our highly skilled teams to create build-ready projects to support our world’s growing digital demands. Our team brings end-to-end experience in site selection, land planning, infrastructure coordination, environmental review, entitlements, design, construction, and operations. These campuses allow communities to realize the economic benefits of this critical infrastructure through a more centralized, thoughtful, intentional, and less impactful approach to development.
For more information, visit tract.com.
A master developer is a development and construction firm that acquires land for development, secures entitlements and approvals, and often builds core site infrastructure like utilities, roads, and stormwater systems. A master developer is not necessarily the end operator of the project; instead, they create the framework, do the planning, and prepare the land for the eventual builder and/or operator.
Master developers are often the driving force behind large retail, commercial, and industrial development projects.
To answer that question, let’s build on the master developer concept. If a master developer were planning a mixed-use development with a blend of retail and residential buildings, for example, they would have a vision for the mix of retailers and the number of residents to be housed, based on market demand and other factors. They may know, for example, that a grocery store would be well-suited, and that residences for 500 people would be appropriate for the size and design of the property. But they don’t know which grocery store might ultimately be built, and they may not know exactly how many apartments would be included, or what the precise mix of one-, two-, or three-bedroom units might be. The development of technology parks is similar.
Once Tract completes the land and infrastructure preparation:
Part of our work on a project is the creation, submission, and approval of a Comprehensive Plan Amendment, rezoning, and Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The CUP contains conditions that reflect commitments, scope, and nature of a proposed development in order to ensure that the plan publicly presented is what is built. In planning terms, these conditions “run with the land," meaning any owner of the land and/or buildings or operator of a facility on the land is legally obligated to comply with its terms.
Should a future owner, lessee or operator want to make changes to the project outside the parameters of the conditions of the CUP, they would be required to follow the same application, review, and approval processes to amend those approvals, and would be subject to the same scrutiny and community input.
As is the case with master developers in the retail, commercial, and industrial space, we have relationships across all potential builders and operators in the data center space. We draw on decades of experience, understanding, and knowledge of the needs and demands of our prospective customers. We know what requirements each operator has, what they look for in a site, and where they want or need to locate additional facilities.
Additionally, we invest tens of millions of our own dollars to make the site ready for construction by these operators. This includes obtaining entitlements, site grading, extending utilities, building stormwater infrastructure, improving roads, and building substations for the power provider. This investment demonstrates our confidence that a site will not sit empty, and the community can realize the benefits of a data center as soon as it can be built and powered.
As for market demand, the need for data centers has been growing steadily for decades. Increased cloud adoption and usage is showing no signs of slowing down, with industry analyst Gartner predicting recent growth in end-user public cloud spending of over 20% per year.
In Virginia specifically, demand signals remain strong as well. Real estate firm CBRE highlights that the data center vacancy rate in Northern Virginia was 0.5% in 2025, which is among the lowest in the country, and the market saw its highest single year increase in supply in 2025 as well.
For additional information:
https://www.ippathways.com/the-state-of-cloud-in-2026-from-adoption-to-optimization/
Currently, Tract has data center campuses actively under construction, as well land holdings in the permitting and zoning process, in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Virginia, and North Carolina. Our portfolio includes over 25,000 total acres owned or under contract, and over 50,000 acres engaged across the country.
In simple terms, data centers are buildings which house computer servers that process, store, collect, and distribute information, and do so at a large scale. They’re necessary to support a wide range of applications across community services, emergency response, retail and wholesale commerce, entertainment, transportation, and much more. The diagram below provides an illustration of just some of the services that depend on data centers. (Click the image to view at full size in a new tab.)
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These services all require data centers to store the data, software, and connectivity in order for them to work. Demand for data centers continues to grow as the demand for these services also expands and grows.
If you think about the project at hand:
In short, we all use data centers every day — whether we realize it or not.
No. Data centers have been around for decades, with the first iterations being built as early as the 1940s and 1950s for specific use cases. More modern facilities have been around since the dawn of the internet in the mid-1990s.
Data centers support technical services across communications, business functions, digital security, streaming, online storage, mapping, healthcare, travel, education, emergency response, retail, finance, and much more, including support artificial intelligence (AI).
As of mid-2026, there are fewer than 50 data centers known to be dedicated specifically to AI in the United States. For context, the country has approximately 4,500 operational data centers, meaning that roughly 1% of data centers are dedicated solely to AI. Most of the currently existing and announced facilities are located in more rural areas of the Midwest and Texas.
Most data centers today are designed to accommodate a hybrid of cloud computing and AI inference equipment, as they are similarly sized equipment. The dedicated AI facilities described above have an entirely different configuration and set-up than what is planned for Haven Oak Tech Park.
Much like roads, utilities, and telecommunications, data centers support the core functions of society. They ensure the reliability of services we use daily, such as mobile apps, online banking and retail, cloud storage, emergency services, telehealth, social media, and smart city technologies.
Technology companies work hard to ensure that their services remain operational without interruption. They do this by distributing workloads and data storage across multiple data centers, across wide geographical areas. But it’s not impossible for a data center outage to occur, and like a widespread power outage, the impact can be serious, and costly in terms of economic impact.
Given the wide-ranging uses of online technologies, data centers are considered critical infrastructure not dissimilar to electrical service, water lines, and roadways.
Tract looks at several factors when considering whether a site is attractive for data center development, including:
In short, it’s due to simple supply and demand. As our society and our economy continue to depend more on digital technologies, more data centers are necessary to keep up with that growth. Examples include:
All of these services require data centers to operate.
Some are. However, the demand for data centers is so strong that customers cannot necessarily build data centers fast enough for their growth. That’s where the work we do at Tract is so critical; our employees have been part of the data center industry for decades and bring the experience of all large-scale data center operators into one place.
Our approach is specifically to build large-scale campuses, rather than smaller ones. While it may sound counterintuitive, doing so accomplishes several important goals. A larger, single project:
Modern data centers have existed since the beginning of the internet era in the early 1990s. These buildings are continuing to operate, nearly 35 years later.
There is nothing in the design of the buildings that would prevent them from adapting to changing technology to continue to operate as a data center. What changes with technology is the equipment inside the buildings, not the buildings themselves.
Very few data centers have been closed. The design of the physical building is a shape and configuration that could easily adapt to other uses if it was no longer used as a data center. However, there is no data that indicates that these facilities will not continue to be used for this purpose for decades to come.
Haven Oak Technology Park is proposed as a master-planned data center campus designed to deliver long-term tax revenues, high-wage employment, and infrastructure investment while carefully managing sound, traffic, environmental, and visual impacts to surrounding residential and recreational uses.
Tract is proposing a data center in Dinwiddie County because the County has adopted the Emerging Technologies (ET) District with the stated goal to “encourage and accommodate innovative development” in the County.
The ET District states that “the district is intended to be applied only to areas of the county that are located in close proximity to strategic and necessary resources, such as high-capacity electric generation and transmission facilities.” The Property contains approximately 986.9 acres north of White Oak Road at its intersection with Claiborne Road and is near high-voltage transmission infrastructure and the availability of water, sewer, and fiber lines, with convenient regional access via Route 1, Route 460, and Interstate 85.
Haven Oak Technology Park is consistent with Dinwiddie County’s goals because it aligns with the County’s adoption of the ET District and broader goals of encouraging employment-generating investment, expanding the tax base, and directing major new development to locations that can be supported by infrastructure and access. The requested Comprehensive Plan amendment to Employment Center would align the Property’s planned land use designation with the proposed ET zoning and campus-scale development program. Specifically, this project:
The proposal also reflects a coordinated approach to buffering, access management, cultural resource protection, utility planning, and operational mitigation.
Through careful attention to site design, noise control, buffering, traffic management, environmental stewardship, and community partnership, Tract seeks approval of the Comprehensive Plan amendment, rezoning, and Conditional Use Permit needed to realize this long-term investment.
No, Tract does not know at this time, nor do we have any written agreements with potential operators of this site. Tract is the master developer of the site.
That does not mean we are starting from scratch. Our executive team and employees have decades of experience in the data center industry, giving Tract deep relationships across the market and a strong understanding of the key operators and their site requirements. Those relationships and our market knowledge position us to identify credible potential operators, establish connections with them, and negotiate a transaction as the project advances.
A master developer who is planning a mixed-use development with a blend of retail and residential buildings, for example, would have a vision for the mix of retailers and the number of residents to be housed, based on market demand and other factors. They may know, for example, that a grocery store would be well-suited, and that residences for 500 people would be appropriate for the size and design of the property. But they don’t know which grocery store might ultimately be built, and they may not know exactly how many apartments would be included, or what the precise mix of one-, two-, or three-bedroom units might be.
The ET District requires Conditional Use Permit for this project. The Conditional Use Permit will include a set of conditions documenting the requirements. The conditions will remain in full force and effect in perpetuity, regardless of future ownership. Enforcement is conducted via the zoning violation process with Dinwiddie County.
The final number of buildings will be determined by the operator. However, the Conceptual Site Plan currently shows five data center buildings in the East Bay and three in the West Bay. The Final Site Plan must be in general conformance with the Conceptual Site Plan, and any changes will require approval from the Planning Director.
Data centers can provide many benefits to a community, including private investment, new jobs, and tax revenue that supports schools, infrastructure, and public services without burdening residents.
In addition, the development can provide other community benefits, including land dedication, transportation improvements, support for emergency services, and other similar benefits. Tract has begun these discussions with staff and will continue throughout the CUP process.
Jobs created and supported by data centers provide opportunities for new workers, as well as upskilled and reskilled workers, for technical professionals, degree holders, and non-degree holders alike.
Data centers create a mix of direct, onsite jobs and broader induced employment in the community. For a campus of this scale:
2025 PwC Report: Economic contributions of U.S. data centers
Industry standards are applied to provide the job projections for any project. For Haven Oak Tech Park, the metric of 0.39 jobs per megawatt was applied for permanent jobs. For construction jobs, the metric of 1.36 jobs per megawatt was applied.
It is anticipated that all 350 permanent jobs would be located onsite, as nearly all of the jobs relate to the physical buildings or equipment within the buildings. Whether those jobs are employed directly by the operator or contracted would be determined by the operator.
No, the 1,200 construction jobs would be the peak at one time and represent the number needed to support construction of two buildings at one time.
Developing a master-planned data center campus requires significant capital investment from the private sector for buildings and infrastructure, construction, equipment, and ongoing operational expenses. With this level of investment, significant tax dollars will be generated that can support public safety, infrastructure upgrades, parks improvements, schools, and more.
Independent tax analysis prepared by EY (Ernst & Young) evaluates the potential long-term tax revenues generated by a data center development at Haven Oak Technology Park under current real property, business personal property, and sales and use tax frameworks.
Any model must include a set of assumptions. This model is based upon the current best practices, and, where a range of value may be appropriate, has taken a conservative approach. Any change in those assumptions may change the model. This is the same for any modeling exercise.
Please note that the model for the real property and business personal property taxes contains a series of assumptions, all of which are referenced in the report. To highlight key assumptions,
The sales and use tax model is slightly more complicated by the fact that we have to factor the sunset date of 2035 for the state exemption into the model. The model assumes that at Operational Year 6. Depending on when Operational Year 1 occurs, this timing may shift. Additionally, if the state elects to extend, shorten, or change the current exemption, the model would also change.
While precise figures will depend on final buildout and equipment investments, the analysis indicates::
Compared to alternative land uses, Haven Oak Technology Park delivers exceptionally high tax yields with relatively low service demands, particularly for schools, public safety, and general County services.
Tract uses industry assumptions to build its tax analysis model. This includes such things as the value of equipment, amount of equipment, refresh schedule of equipment, and capital investment. This is no different than how taxes are projected for other residential or commercially master planned developments.
The tax analysis model assumed a phased build out of the project along the same timeline as the load ramp for power. Should power delivery cause a change in phasing, the revenues would be more spread out.
As stated, this is a model built on a set of assumptions. If assumptions change, the projected revenues may change. For example, if power delivery extends phasing, the actual revenues would be realized over a longer time period. Conversely, should tax exemptions expire earlier than modeled or tax rates increase from what they are today, the actual revenues would exceed what is in the model.
Tract has not requested and will not request any incentives, fee discounts, or other benefits.
The project will be privately funded, and any infrastructure, utilities or power improvements will be paid for by the project. Tract does not propose passing any costs on to taxpayers from this project.
By way of example, Loudoun County, Virginia has attributed a decrease in residential property taxes to the presence and the amount of data center tax revenues that has been generated:
The project will be served by multiple new substations, all located on the site, and associated infrastructure to connect to high-voltage transmission lines near the property. Locating the substation and major feeders within the campus reduces the need for long off-site transmission extensions and allows visual and noise impacts to be managed entirely within the project boundary. The Property is within the service territories of Dominion Energy and Southside Electric Cooperative, and the Applicant has submitted the required load studies and will continue coordinating with both utilities.
The project will fully comply with all requirements set forth by Dominion Energy and Southside Electric Cooperative to serve the property.
We, as the developer, are responsible for all costs to extend infrastructure, including power, water, and sewer, to the data center campus and are responsible for significant deposit payments to be made at various stages in the process with the various utility providers.
No, local power will not be affected by this project. The substations for this project will be on a different circuit than those serving homes, schools, and other local uses.
Additionally, studies have shown that the power grids near data centers actually become more reliable due to the infrastructure upgrades done at the developer’s cost for the project but benefit the entire grid in the community.
While data centers are large, visible users of power, they are just one part of a much larger shift in energy use, and they pay their own way.
Electricity rates have increased in some areas, even in states with few or no data centers, as overall costs have risen (i.e., inflation). The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the country’s premier scientific research institutions and widely recognized for independent, data-driven analysis on energy systems, grid reliability, electricity markets, and emerging technologies, recently published a detailed analyses with The Brattle Group showing that rising electric bills nationwide are being driven by broad national forces affecting all utilities and customers. These forces include the need to replace aging infrastructure, strengthen the grid in response to severe weather trends, and investment in the renewable energy transition. They also include the rising cost of materials, labor, equipment, and fuel.
The PBS link below offers a clear way to understand these same factors and shows how rising demand alone (such as from large data-center loads) doesn’t necessarily translate into higher bills for all customers.
Link: How data center power demand could help lower electricity prices
Additional resources on this topic:
The real reason electricity prices are rising, and it’s not data centers - The Washington Post
Factors influencing recent trends in retail electricity prices in the United States - ScienceDirect
Data centers fund the infrastructure required to serve their sites. Utilities often require upfront capital, deposits, and financial guarantees, which means households and local businesses are not asked to pay for this infrastructure. Rising demand from large users does not automatically raise bills and, in many cases, supports more efficient recovery of fixed grid costs.
This project will not contribute to increasing local power costs. Tract is executing binding agreements with Dominion Energy and Southside Electric Cooperative that include financial obligations for all power infrastructure needed to serve the site.
Additionally, independent reviews by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) in 2024 confirmed data centers in Virginia already cover their fair share. And to keep it that way, the State Corporation Commission (SCC) has approved a new electricity rate for large load customers like those in the Haven Oak Technology Park, who will be required to pay under this new structure, shielding residents and smaller commercial customers. The SCC’s job is to protect Virginians by ensuring Dominion maintains a safe, reliable grid and that Dominion is not charging customers more than they should for power.
In truth, large energy users like data centers often help stabilize the grid. Their predictable, long-term energy use helps utilities plan better and recover fixed costs more efficiently, reducing pressure on other rate payers.
Electro-magnetic fields (EMF) are created by anything that conducts electricity, including transmission lines, cell phones, computers, televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, and other appliances. These fields are strongest closest to their source, so the farther away you are from the source, the less that these fields reach your body. The World Health Organization has published helpful information on typical EMF exposure in daily life.
Data centers do not emit harmful levels of EMF. EMF emissions in data centers typically come from servers, switches, and networking equipment; power distribution units and cabling; transformers and switching gear; and backup generators. These are all non-ionizing, low-frequency EMF, like what you would get from housing wiring, refrigerators, office buildings, and cell towers. This type of EMF decreases very quickly with distance, especially with the setbacks and buffers required for this project.
Large scientific reviews have not found consistent evidence that typical environmental exposure to low-frequency EMF causes disease in the general population.
Final location of the substations will be determined with Dominion Energy and Southside Electrical Cooperative, once routing is known. The locations will be included on site plan and construction drawings for those improvements. The final location will be in general conformance with the Concept Plan.
The same sound levels and standards that apply to the data center buildings and generators also apply to the substations. Sound levels are committed not to exceed 52 dBA at the property line. Additionally, similar mitigation measures exist for substations as they do for other data center and generator equipment.
None. Substations do not contain any emissions-producing equipment. They are the same types of substations that are built to serve residential neighborhoods.
Dominion Energy is responsible for selecting what equipment is installed in the substations. Tract does not have discretion in that process. Generally, operation of transformer equipment does not produce any emissions.
BESS and similar battery storage technologies are an allowed use at Haven Oak Tech Park and could be required by an operator to support the site's operations and reliability. Any BESS installation would be required to comply with the ET and all applicable state and federal laws and regulations, the International Fire Code (IFC), and County requirements. Its design, permitting, construction, and operation would also be subject to all applicable fire safety, environmental, and other health and safety standards.
The property is being planned for three 300 MW substations and a load study for 900 MW has been submitted to Dominion Energy. If additional power is needed at any time in the future, an additional request would need to be considered by the power provider and SCC with additional substations required to be built on site, which would likely require a CUP amendment.
This project, like all data center projects, requires the installation of generators to provide the required back-up power supply to the facility in the unlikely event that the primary power sources are interrupted.
Generators are highly regulated and permitted through federal, state and local regulatory agencies. These agencies dictate elements of use such as frequency of testing, length of testing, and emissions.
Tract has agreed on a proposed condition to use Tier 4 or equivalent technology. Specific equipment will be determined by the facility operator, but will require compliance with all federal, state, and local requirements. The sound modeling study provided with the submission assumed one generator for every 3 MW of power.
Based on the assumption of one generator for every 3 MW of data center load, approximately 300 generators would be required to support the full data center load. Approximately 40 additional generators, for a total of approximately 340 generators onsite, would provide operational redundancy if other generators are unavailable due to maintenance or an equipment failure during an emergency event. The 300 load-serving generators and the additional redundancy generators would not operate simultaneously. Accordingly, no more than 300 generators should be operating at any given time, including during an emergency. The air-quality modeling reflects these operating scenarios, and the sound modeling is based on the operation of 300 generators.
Generators are regulated by agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. All generators are required to comply with emissions standards outlined in the Clean Air Act. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regulates emissions, testing schedules, testing requirements, and testing durations. The project is subject to all of these regulations.
For construction, a non-PSD, Minor Source Construction Permit from Virginia DEQ would be required.
For operation, a Title V operating permit From DEQ for a major source is required.
Typically, permits for generators are not submitted until vertical construction drawings are underway. The location of the generators and building design must be confirmed to submit for permitting and provide the accurate information required. This happens after site work is completed. Permits are submitted on a source-by-source basis; meaning, that permits will be phased with construction.
As DEQ is a state agency, those records will be public and the process for permitting is established by DEQ.
Generator maintenance and testing would occur during daytime hours only. A typical generator is required to be tested for up to 30 minutes per month at 30% load.
Generators would also run during power emergency situations, where the facility has lost power. In those emergency situations, the generators would run until power is restored.
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality defines emergency as follows:
"Emergency" means a condition that arises from sudden and reasonably unforeseeable events where the primary energy or power source is disrupted or disconnected due to conditions beyond the control of an owner of a source including any of the following:
During normal operations, diesel deliveries would be infrequent and generally limited to replenishing fuel consumed during generator testing.
Emergency backup generators are commonly designed with 24 to 72 hour run tanks, allowing them to operate at full load for that period before refueling. Fuel would typically be stored in individual, double-walled belly tanks associated with each generator. The tanks would be designed, installed, and maintained in accordance with UL 142, applicable federal, state, and County requirements, and original equipment manufacturer recommendations. Tank systems would include leak alarms that monitor the space between the two tank walls, as well as alarmed fill systems with overfill protection.
Qualified fuel vendors would deliver fuel using approved hauling routes and site-specific offloading procedures. Refueling would be conducted in accordance with applicable Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) requirements. These procedures would include trained delivery and operations personnel, secured and grounded trucks and hoses, secondary containment at the fueling area, spill-response materials, and protection or covering of stormwater inlets, drains, basins, and other drainage features during refueling.
In data centers with non-evaporative cooling systems (i.e., air-cooled/closed loop technologies), water is used for domestic purposes such as sinks and toilets, required fire flows, and construction. The closed-loop cooling system would require a one-time initial fill, after which the water would be recirculated. Only negligible amounts would be needed for periodic top-off over the life of the system.
Since the pre-application was submitted, Tract has agreed and will agree to a condition that requires that this is an air-cooled/closed loop campus, decreasing the water demands for the project by approximately 95 percent.
With an air-cooled / closed loop system, the highest demand is actually realized during construction. Projected water demand during full operations is limited to domestic use only and is estimated at approximately 12,000 gallons per day (GPD) average day and 30,000 GPD peak day demand. Fire flows for emergency and building code requirements are modeled separately from operational use.
For construction purposes, domestic water demand is estimated at approximately 25,000 GPD average day and 50,000 GPD peak day demand, driven by the large number of workers expected onsite.
The maximum peak will occur when some buildings have been constructed and are operational and some others are still under construction. This is modeled as an average daily use of 33,000 gallons per day and a peak day demand of 70,000 gallons per day.
Modeling for all of these scenarios has been provided to the County to review. This includes operations, construction and fire flows.
For reference, a peak day demand means the amount of water the system needs to supply on the highest-use day of the year. The average demand reflects the mathematical mean across all days in the year and is more reflective of typical usage.
The project will be provided with domestic water and sanitary sewer service through DCWA. As such, no wells will be drilled and area groundwater will not be used to serve this project. We agree to a condition stating that public water must be used and that no groundwater or wells are permitted.
The Project will be fully compliant with the requirements of Dinwiddie County and all State laws and regulations related to use of public water and discharge of wastewater. The project will not use wells or have any impact on existing wells or groundwater.
No. The system will be designed and constructed to ensure adequate capacity, both volume and system pressure, for all customers, including residential, commercial and this project. Further, there are no toxic chemicals used in the data center; therefore, no potential for toxic discharge that would impact water quality.
Because the project will use a closed-loop cooling system, the wastewater generated will be limited to domestic wastewater, which is the same type produced by any office or commercial building, from restrooms, sinks, and similar everyday uses. This domestic wastewater will be conveyed to the public sanitary sewer system and treated at the local wastewater treatment facility.
The closed-loop design recirculates cooling water internally rather than generating a continuous discharge stream; therefore, cooling water will not be discharged to the public sewer system or into the ground or any existing streams.
Similar to water, the demands for wastewater/sewer stem only from construction and domestic requirements and do not differ from discharge from an office building. The sewer demands can be summarized as below:
Yes, the Applicant has been working closely with the County to develop and review the proposed modeling. With the change of cooling system, wastewater demands have significantly decreased and the applicant and the utility’s engineers are reviewing the potential system improvements necessary, if any, to serve the reduced flows.
With a closed loop system, all fluids are contained within the system and continuously recirculated rather than discharged. This means these fluids do not come into contact with the outside environment, are not evaporated into the air, and are not discharged to the sanitary sewer or local waterways during normal operations.
Under any development scenario, public water infrastructure will need to be extended to serve the property, which will enhance public water service and redundancy to this area of the County. The piping and any associated systems will be sized to meet both fire flow and operational needs. Tract will continue to work with the County to understand the scope and phasing of these improvements. All required utility improvements to support this project will be paid for by Tract.
Given that all water used for the project will just be for domestic use and fire flows, no pretreatment is required. The wastewater will be no different than from an office building, from restrooms, sinks, and similar everyday uses. This domestic wastewater will be conveyed to the public sanitary sewer system and treated at the local wastewater treatment facility.
Nothing in the discharge water will contain any toxic chemicals or substances.
No. All wastewater will be connected to the public sewer system. Additionally, the only water discharge is domestic water, which is the same as water that is discharged from houses or office buildings.
Modern data centers are designed with a wide range of noise-reduction measures, such as sound barriers and insulated walls. Noise from equipment can be mitigated by a wide range of technologies, like sound attenuation louvers, spring vibration isolators, noise absorbent lining and enclosures, mufflers/silencers, acoustical screening walls, berms, and landscaping. Additionally, the orientation of buildings and equipment can be used for screening and to direct noise away from adjacent properties. The project will be designed to ensure compliance with local ordinances.
Many older data centers, like some of those located in Prince William, Loudoun, or other Northern Virginia counties, did not include sound attenuation in their design and construction. A more accurate and recent example of a modern data center design with sound attenuation measures are the facilities at White Oak Technology Park in Henrico County.
Dinwiddie County does not maintain quantified noise regulations specific to this use. For Haven Oak, the Applicant evaluated the project using recognized land use compatibility guidance and a daytime design goal of 52 dBA for nearby sensitive receptors, and the project. The CUP application contains a condition, which we agree to, for a maximum sound level of 52 dBA.
Tract continues to evaluate the sound modeling to ensure alignment with the County.
Tract retained Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions, Inc. to perform an environmental noise assessment for Haven Oak Tech Park. The assessment models noise from campus operations, including rooftop chillers, air handling units, generators, and other major equipment.
The assessment models submitted with the application are based on general assumptions, such as a specific type of equipment, the amount of equipment, the location of equipment, and assume certain mitigation measures for purposes of the study.
Regardless of the type or amount of equipment, the operator will be required to install any and all mitigation measures necessary to maintain compliance with conditions for the site.
The operator will be required to install any mitigation measures necessary to maintain compliance with the project condition for the life of the project. This includes both the generator yards and any mechanical systems placed on the campus.
It is important to note that regardless of what equipment is chosen, where buildings are placed, or where generators are located, any owner and/or operator will be required to take any necessary measures to mitigate the sound from the property, as measured at the property line. There are many ways to mitigate sound, including equipment selection, equipment enclosures, equipment screening, screening, walls, fences, berms, and landscaping. All of these will be available to whoever is operating the buildings, and they will need to utilize any and all measures that are necessary to ensure compliance with the approved conditions.
The assessment models noise from campus operations, including rooftop chillers, air handling units, generators, and other major equipment.
The assessment models submitted with the application are based on general assumptions, such as a specific type of equipment, the amount of equipment, the location of equipment, and assume certain mitigation measures for purposes of the study.
Regardless of the type or amount of equipment, the operator will be required to install any and all mitigation measures necessary to maintain compliance with Conditions.
Approvals and conditions are not tied to a specific entity, applicant, or developer. The conditions remain in effect for the property (“run with the land”) in perpetuity. The ultimate equipment that is selected will not actually matter as the requirement not to exceed 52 dBA will remain in effect. The operator will be required to install any and all measures necessary to meet this requirement at the property line.
Put simply, the equipment may change, but the sound limits do not; the operator must take whatever steps are necessary to comply with the Conditions.
At this time, we do not know the definitive phasing of building construction.
As with all construction, stormwater and other mitigation measures will be installed as required in the site plan and/or other approved permit drawings. Each phase will have its own required construction drawings and permits. The impact with each phase, both individually and collective to the campus, would be addressed in those permits.
The final phasing of the building construction will be based upon how many and the locations of the final operators of the site. All operators will be subject to the same conditions that are approved for the project.
Dust control, as well as sediment and erosion control, is standard practice across the construction industry and will be implemented as part of this project. Water application during construction is one measure that may be used to control dust and airborne particles. Additional project-specific measures will be detailed in the Construction Management Plan, which will require County approval.
Yes, the Applicant agrees to a condition that requires a local point or points of contact during construction and during operation. This contact information will be provided to the County as part of the Construction Management Plan and prior to operation of any building.
A point(s) of contact will be provided to the County during construction and operations. This will be the primary means of communication if updates are needed.
Primary access to the East Bay is proposed from Claiborne Road, with a secondary access point farther north along Claiborne Road and emergency-only access utilizing the existing access road from Runaround Lane. Primary access to the West Bay is proposed from White Oak Road, with secondary access from Claiborne Road utilizing an existing logging road to minimize additional disturbance along that frontage.
The Traffic Impact Analysis routes all construction and operational traffic for the East Bay along the Claiborne Road entrances and for the West Bay to the White Oak Road entrance.
All development generates some level of automobile trips to and from the facilities that are built. However, data centers have one of the lowest trip generation rates of any commercial or industrial land use. The traffic study that was submitted for this development evaluated permanent and construction traffic. The inherently low trip generation of data centers relative to their tax base, especially compared to retail or residential, allows the project to deliver large fiscal benefits with limited incremental congestion.
Yes, construction does generate more traffic than normal operations. The traffic study submitted with the application includes an analysis of construction traffic conditions and any required improvements will be a result of having to accommodate the higher traffic generation associated with construction activities.
A formal Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) has been completed to evaluate background traffic, trip generation, distribution, and needed improvements for both construction and final operational state. The TIA has been submitted to Dinwiddie County and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for review. Any improvements noted in the TIA shall be paid for by the developer and constructed as part of the Project.
Tract will fund necessary transportation and utility upgrades.
There is no hazardous waste associated with data centers.
While there is no indication or anticipation that the data center would close or demand for facilities would decrease, no remediation would be required as there are no toxic or hazardous substances or elements to the data center. Therefore, no “clean up” would be required. The property owner would remain liable for the buildings, maintenance, and safety of the site and would be held to the same standards as any other property owner in the County.
While there is no indication or anticipation that the data center would close or demand for facilities would decrease, the physical structures are highly adaptable to other uses. There is nothing in the design of the exterior shells of the buildings that would preclude reuse of the structures for another permitted use.
Tract has prepared a viewshed analysis, which was included in the application materials. Based on this analysis, the buildings are screened by the existing topography, existing and proposed vegetated buffers and setbacks, or absolute distant from nearby properties.
The project includes Development Area Setbacks around the perimeter of the Property, with existing vegetation preserved to the maximum extent practicable and supplemented where necessary with additional plantings to create a visual screen from public rights-of-way and adjacent properties.
Outside the Development Areas, the site will continue to incorporate open space, natural buffers, landscaped areas, and stormwater features that help maintain separation from adjoining properties and sensitive areas.
Data centers, substations, and other accessory buildings do not emit any odors. However, backup power is provided by diesel generators, and these generators can emit an odor when they are running, not dissimilar to a bus or semi-truck. New generators with modern emission controls like the Tier 4 generators, emit far less odor than older or poorly maintained units.
Scientific research has found that the further a person is from the source the more that smell will dissipate based on diffusion and wind movement. As a general rule, smell is half as strong every 10 feet of distance from the source. At the setbacks proposed, a nuisance odor would be uncommon.
There is no established scientific evidence showing that living near a data center, by itself, causes illness. Tract acknowledges that there are anecdotal accounts of people reporting health impacts but the scientific research has not established evidence.
Northern Virginia has the highest concentration of data centers anywhere in the world, and the same region includes some of the healthiest communities in Virginia, with places like Loudoun County consistently ranking very highly on widely used health measures.
Any development that results in an increase of impervious surfaces (e.g., roads, parking lots) can result in some minor and highly localized heat island effects, not dissimilar from how your paved driveway or sidewalk may feel warmer than the grass. However, data center development does not result in excessive heat or any increase beyond what is typical for any development. Distance lessens the impact of any potential heat island effects. Think about standing next to your home air conditioning unit; you can feel the heat coming from that piece of equipment. Step back a few feet and the heat decreases. The same would be true with this or any other development.
Tract welcomes fact-checking and independent review of reports that it publicly shares. Where a review is intended to constitute third-party verification, it should be conducted by a qualified professional who is appropriately licensed, where applicable, in the relevant field of study. Tract has facilitated this type of review on other projects.
As with any development, the developer, owner, and/or operator are required to comply with all zoning requirements, approved conditions, and any applicable laws, including the Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The approvals and conditions remain tied to the property, not to a specific entity (applicant, developer or operator); and therefore, remain in full force and effect in perpetuity.
As such any operational commitments made by Tract would apply to the operator of the facility. The conditions would ensure that the requirement is known to the operator and the enforcement processes would apply to the operator. As noted, the approvals and conditions remain tied to the property, not to a specific applicant or developer.
If a development is not compliant, the County or applicable agency has the authority to issue violations, fines and penalties, or other actions to regain compliance and address any impact from non-compliance. Such actions could include shutting down the facility, which would be unacceptable and extremely costly for any operators. All approvals, conditions, and requirements would run with the property and need to be enforced throughout the life of the project.
As with any land use approval, if an amendment is desired in the future, it would require the owner/operator to file a CUP amendment. Such amendments are public processes and would be subject to the County’s established process for CUP amendment, which is a public process.
As noted, the approvals and conditions remain tied to the property and not to a specific entity; and therefore, remain applicable in perpetuity. If there are multiple operators on the site, the operators would need to reach agreement with each other on how compliance, as well as shared expenses such as private road maintenance and landscaping, would be handled. Similar to an HOA, one possible type of agreement is to establish a master association, where each property owner would pay for and be responsible for certain obligations; however, the ultimate structure may take other forms with the same result.
From the public standpoint, any violations would be issued to all owners of the property in the CUP and any repercussions for non-compliance would apply to all. Just like with a homeowners’ association, it is in the best interest of all parties to have this internal agreement in place to ensure that enforcement is properly addressed and responsible parties are held accountable.