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Microsoft Corp. is getting ready to build a new $400 million data center on 67 acres it owns in Loudoun County’s Arcola Business Park, according to public records and the county’s economic development agency.
Once built, the Redmond, Washington-based company’s new data center — known as IAD11, per county records — will span 500,000 square feet and create 80 jobs, according to Loudoun Economic Development Department documents and confirmed by executive director Buddy Rizer.
Its site plan was approved by the county for fast-track development in November 2020, which means that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and its team move forward with construction as soon as the other necessary approvals come in, according to county documents.
It’s unclear what the project’s delivery timeline is. Spokespeople for Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and its other partners — New York-based construction firm Turner Construction Company, Fairfax civil engineering firm Dewberry and San Francisco-based architecture firm Gensler, per public documents — either declined to comment, citing non-disclosure agreements, or didn’t respond in time for publication.
But Rizer said the project was “moving along smoothly,” noting that an amendment for the already-approved site plan is under review and that permits are pending. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality records show that Microsoft filed an air quality permit for the project that’s been pending since April.
Microsoft bought the vacant land at 41840 Growth Mindset Lane in Aldie (renamed from 24282 Quail Ridge Lane) in August 2020 for $93.7 million. The previous owner were Arcola Business Park LLC — a joint venture of Baltimore-based St. John Properties Inc., and Chuck Kuhn, CEO of Sterling-based JK Moving Services — as well as JK Land Holdings LLC, the land acquisition firm at which Kuhn also serves as president.
The assessed tax value of the land is $64 million, according to Loudoun land records.
Microsoft already has data centers in Loudoun County, in Ashburn, Leesburg and Sterling, in addition to some in Prince William County and Manassas city.
Rizer called Microsoft a key corporate partner and said it recently awarded a grant to Northern Virginia Community College to invest in its information and engineering technologies program.
“They’ve had a presence in leased space in Loudoun for a long time, and they’ve been great community partners as they have expanded their footprints,” Rizer said in an email. “While we certainly appreciate their investment and job creation, what has really set them apart is [the] way they’ve invested in the community.”
