Blackstone QTS abandons Virginia data center project
Blackstone Inc.’s data‑center subsidiary, QTS, has decided to abandon its share of a planned 2,100‑acre data‑center campus in Virginia, according to a Bloomberg report cited by Reuters. The company had intended to convert more than 800 acres in Prince William County, Northern Virginia, into part of what was touted as one of the world’s largest technology corridors.
The project encountered strong opposition from local homeowners and was delayed by lawsuits because the site lies on the edge of a historic Civil War battlefield and on land that had previously been protected from development. QTS executives assessed that continuing the court battle was not worthwhile; the firm’s attorneys intend to inform the court of the withdrawal decision within the current week.
The cancellation represents another setback for Virginia’s “Digital Gateway” initiative, a development roughly twice the size of New York’s Central Park with power requirements comparable to those of an entire city. The Digital Gateway was expected to generate approximately $100 billion in spending and to establish one of the world’s largest technology corridors. The aggressive expansion plans of data‑center operators have repeatedly clashed with public concerns about pressure on electricity grids and rising home prices driven by AI‑related data‑center demand. The Digital Gateway project has also been the subject of contentious and lengthy public hearings.