Data Center Registry
Prince William Digital Gateway
Gainesville, Prince William County, Virginia · Every QTS and Compass Datacenters case on our tracker
Prince William Digital Gateway is a cancelled data center in Gainesville, Virginia (Prince William County), operated by QTS / Compass Datacenters. The public record puts it at announced 2021, 2,100 acres. It faces documented, organized local opposition.
Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.
What our reporting adds
Our case file documents this site. Concluded: rezonings void, final appeal withdrawn July 2, 2026.
Facility record
Cancelled
- Operator
- QTS / Compass Datacenters
- Facility type
- Data center, AI use likely
- Location
- Gainesville, Prince William County, VA
- Coordinates
- 38.8000, -77.6800
- Power capacity
- Not established from a public source
- Land
- 2,100 acres
- Investment
- Not established from a public source
- Announced
- 2021
- Utility
- Dominion Energy / NOVEC
- Power source
- Grid
- Cooling
- Not established from a public source
- Water use
- Not established from a public source
- Jobs
- Not established from a public source
- Public subsidy
- Not established from a public source
- Community reception
- Opposed
- Source confidence
- Confirmed by multiple independent sources or official documentation
Timeline from the record
Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.
- July 2026CancelledQTS withdrew Virginia Supreme Court appeal July 2, 2026 after Court of Appeals unanimously halted project March 2026. Circuit court had voided rezoning August 2024 citing inadequate public notice under Va. Code § 15.2-2204. Project officially terminated. Source: WTOP News
- December 2023PermittedCounty Board of Supervisors narrowly approved rezoning in marathon 27-hour session; incoming supervisors had not yet taken office; rezoning later challenged in court Source: WTOP News
- January 2021ProposedQTS and Compass proposed 2,100-acre, 37-data-center campus adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park along Pageland Lane corridor Source: WTOP News
Opposition and litigation at this site
Yes. Organized local opposition to Prince William Digital Gateway in Gainesville, Prince William County, Virginia is documented in the public record. Concluded: rezonings void, final appeal withdrawn July 2, 2026.
How the community has taken it
Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: opposed means documented, organized local opposition is the dominant signal on record.
Concluded: rezonings void, final appeal withdrawn July 2, 2026. PW Digital Gateway: 22M+ sq ft of data centers on roughly 2,000 acres along Pageland Lane near the Manassas battlefield, for QTS and Compass Datacenters. Extensive community opposition over proximity to Manassas National Battlefield and loss of rural character. State courts voided rezoning. County spent over $1.7M in taxpayer funds supporting developers before dropping appeal in April 2026.
Power and water
Grid-only. Data Center Frontier reporting states the project depends on Dominion Energy grid power, with Dominion planning new substations and a new 230kV transmission line (Dave's Store substation to a NOVEC substation near Wellington/Rollins Ford roads) to serve NOVEC's territory.
Notes on the record
Would have been largest data center campus in the world at over 22 million sq ft across approximately 2,000-2,100 acres (per WTOP). Cancellation is landmark precedent on Virginia public-notice requirements. Coordinates are approximate for Pageland Lane corridor. Re-checked 2026-09-10: the record is accurate and current. QTS's July 2, 2026 Virginia Supreme Court petition withdrawal (by GW Acquisition Co., LLC and GW Acquisition Co. I, LLC) is correctly reflected in statusHistory; no further developments found since.
What the record does not establish, and the document that would
In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.
- Power capacity in megawatts
- Cooling method and water use
- Tax abatements or other public subsidy
- Permanent jobs promised
Which document closes each gap
- Power capacity in megawatts
- The utility's large load service agreement, the interconnection request in the grid operator's queue, or the electrical site plan in the permit file.
- Cooling method and water use
- The water service agreement, any groundwater appropriation permit, and the mechanical narrative in the site plan.
- Tax abatements or other public subsidy
- The abatement, PILOT, or development agreement approved by the county, city, or development authority, and the state's data center sales tax exemption certificate if one was issued.
- Permanent jobs promised
- The economic development application or incentive agreement, which usually states a job commitment and a clawback.
Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.
Our reporting on this site
- The Prince William Digital Gateway Lawsuit · Plaintiff win
- Great Oak v. the Hum · Dispute, no suit filed
Other sites within 30 miles
Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.
- CyrusOne Vint Hill Campus · Vint Hill · CyrusOne3 mi · Proposed · Contested
- Gainesville Crossing Digital Campus (GCDC) · Gainesville · Corscale Data Centers (Patrinely / USAA Real Estate)4 mi · Under construction · 300 MW · Contested
- Vint Hill Corners · Vint Hill · Vint Hill Corners LLC4 mi · Proposed · Contested
- Digital Realty VA4 · Bristow · Digital Realty5 mi · Operating
- Iron Mountain VA-2 · Manassas · Iron Mountain7 mi · Operating
- Iron Mountain VA-3 · Manassas · Iron Mountain7 mi · Operating
- Blackwell Road Data Center (Warrenton) · Warrenton · Amazon Data Services8 mi · Permitted · 40 MW · In litigation
- Iron Mountain VA-4 · Manassas · Iron Mountain8 mi · Operating · 32 MW
Questions people ask about this site
Is there opposition to the Prince William Digital Gateway data center in Gainesville?
Yes. Organized local opposition to Prince William Digital Gateway in Gainesville, Prince William County, Virginia is documented in the public record. Concluded: rezonings void, final appeal withdrawn July 2, 2026.
Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Prince William Digital Gateway data center?
The reception note on this record refers to a court proceeding. Read it in full under opposition and litigation above, and check the sources at the foot of the page for the filing itself.
How much water does Prince William Digital Gateway use?
No water withdrawal figure for Prince William Digital Gateway is on record here. Water use is rarely published voluntarily; it usually surfaces through a utility service agreement or a state withdrawal permit, both of which are public records. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.
Who operates Prince William Digital Gateway, and how big is it?
QTS / Compass Datacenters is the operator on record. No capacity figure is on record for this site. The site is recorded at 2100 acres.
How to cite this page
SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Prince William Digital Gateway," updated September 10, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/prince-william-digital-gateway-va.
Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.32.0 (September 7, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/prince-william-digital-gateway-va, retrieved September 14, 2026.
Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.
Sources for this record
As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.
- 1.Digital Gateway data center project dies after final developer withdraws appeal · WTOP News · retrieved July 6, 2026
- 2.Officials in Prince William County drop support for QTS/Compass Digital Gateway data center project · Data Center Dynamics · retrieved July 6, 2026
- 3.Data Center Frontier, PW Digital Gateway Advances as Prince William Supervisors Back Massive Project · retrieved July 24, 2026
- 4.InsideNoVa, Digital Gateway data center developer to end appeal · retrieved July 24, 2026
- 5.The Prince William Digital Gateway Lawsuit: How a Notice Defect Voided the World's Biggest Data Center Project · SueDataCenters.org · retrieved September 2, 2026
- 6.Prince William Times: Judge overturns Prince William Digital Gateway (August 2025) · princewilliamtimes.com · retrieved September 2, 2026
- 7.Virginia Business: Virginia Appeals Court upholds block on Prince William Digital Gateway project (March 2026) · virginiabusiness.com · retrieved September 2, 2026
- 8.Technical.ly: Digital Gateway data center battle heads to Virginia Supreme Court · technical.ly · retrieved September 2, 2026
- 9.WTOP: Developers drop appeal of zoning decision on Digital Gateway project (April 2026) · wtop.com · retrieved September 2, 2026
- 10.Williams Mullen: How notice defects could invalidate rezoning · williamsmullen.com · retrieved September 2, 2026
Is a data center disrupting your home?
Tell us what is happening. We will connect you with an independent attorney who handles data center cases in your state, free and with no obligation. These cases are commonly taken on contingency, so there are typically no upfront fees.
- Free case review
- Independent attorneys
- No obligation
Attorney or law firm handling data center matters? Speak with us