Compass Datacenters
US data-centre developer that abandoned three Virginia sites in 2026 over court and tax-abatement setbacks.
Compass Datacenters abandoned three Virginia site searches in 2026: a 2,000-acre Prince William County project after an April court defeat, then two more, in Greensville and Emporia, over tax uncertainty in May.
Last refreshed: 4 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
With three Virginia sites gone, where is Compass Datacenters investing next?
Timeline for Compass Datacenters
Signed a heat-network agreement enabling a data centre exempt from the NH2020 building ban
Data Centres: Boom and Backlash: A Dutch village trades heat for a banVirginia taxes power behind the meter
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashMentioned in: Virginia floats a fee on backup gas
Data Centres: Boom and Backlashhalted site searches in Greensville County and Emporia before filing any planning application
Data Centres: Boom and Backlash: Tax fight kills Virginia projects earlyMentioned in: Five US moratorium votes in seven days
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashBackground
Compass Datacenters is a privately held US colocation and hyperscale developer, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It has been backed by Brookfield Asset Management since 2020, and builds campuses for hyperscaler wholesale and enterprise colocation clients across the United States.
In 2026 the company's most concentrated activity has been retreat rather than expansion: three separate Virginia site searches abandoned in a single season, driven by a mix of court rulings on rezoning notice and an unresolved state fight over the data-centre tax exemption, which the Senate wants ended by end-2026 and the House wants extended to 2035. Compass's Greensville and Emporia withdrawals, made before any planning application was filed, show the company treating fiscal uncertainty as a reason to stop before committing resources, not just after.
As a privately held developer, Compass discloses little about its wider pipeline; its public footprint in the available record is currently defined by the Virginia withdrawals rather than by active construction.
Compass walks away from Virginia sites
Compass withdrew its roughly 2,000-acre Prince William County project after Virginia's Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that the county fast-tracked the rezoning without adequate public notice; Compass confirmed it would not appeal . The site sat near Manassas National Battlefield Park and had drawn community opposition on procedural grounds.
In May, Finance Secretary Mark Sickles disclosed that Compass had also halted its search for two further sites, in Greensville County and Emporia, before filing any planning application, citing only uncertainty over Virginia's data-centre tax exemption standoff . That marks a new stage: Compass is now declining to invest at all, rather than losing sites after committing capital.
Reference
Who backs Compass Datacenters financially?
Where is Compass Datacenters headquartered and what markets does it operate in?
Why did Compass Datacenters cancel its Virginia projects in 2026?
What happened to Compass Datacenters' Prince William County project?
