Starwood Capital Group is firming up its plans for the development of two data centres in Fairfax County, Virginia, not far from the Alexandria border. The investment company submitted construction plans for the first building of its Plaza 500 project last week, according to Fairfax County documents cited by the Business Journals.
The proposed two-storey data centre, designated Plaza 500 South, is expected to cover an area of 226,469 square feet and reach a height of 75 feet. The estimated cost for the first phase of shell construction is US$5 million. A subsidiary of the Miami-based Starwood acquired the 34-acre site, which borders the Bren Mar neighbourhood, for US$165 million in 2022.
Starwood is also awaiting approval for a planned electrical substation that would be located less than 100 feet from nearby residential homes. These plans have sparked opposition from local residents. Earlier this year, they proposed that Fairfax County should exchange the Plaza 500 site for a parcel in Chantilly that the county intends to sell to Starwood for data centre development. Under this proposal, affordable housing would instead be built near Bren Mar.
The county administration rejected this idea and expects to finalise the sale of the US$167 million Chantilly property to Starwood next spring. Residents are planning a protest against the proposed substation on Edsall Road when the proposal is presented to the Planning Committee in September.
Starwood is also developing several other major data centre projects in Northern Virginia. The company is converting the former Washington Commanders training facility in Herndon into two data centres. These are located near Renaissance Tech Park, which upon full completion is expected to cover an area of 2.3 million square feet and become the largest data centre complex in Fairfax County. Amazon is designated as a user of this property.
