Digital Gateway
Prince William County's 2,000-acre, 37-building data-centre rezoning, voided by court ruling and dropped without appeal.
Last refreshed: 15 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did Prince William County give up its fight over Digital Gateway?
Timeline for Digital Gateway
Mentioned in: Prince William denies a 43m sq ft campus
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashWhat happened to the Digital Gateway data-centre project?
Why did the Virginia Court of Appeals void the Digital Gateway rezoning?
Is Digital Gateway the same project as Dulles South Innovation Center?
Background
Prince William County announced in May 2026 that it would not appeal a Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that voided the Digital Gateway fast-track rezoning, ending a scheme covering roughly 2,000 acres, 37 buildings, and 14 substations on which the county had already spent about $2m in legal fees .
The court had found the county fast-tracked the rezoning near Manassas National Battlefield Park without adequate public notice. Compass Datacenters, the lead applicant, withdrew rather than appeal, and the ruling rippled outward: Loudoun County stripped data centres of by-right zoning and Fairfax County added 200-foot home setbacks and noise studies .
Digital Gateway is now the county's cautionary precedent rather than an active project. It sits in contrast to the later Dulles South Innovation Center denial, where Prince William's Board of Supervisors killed a 1,940-acre, 43-million-square-foot campus outright through ordinary zoning votes rather than a lost court fight .
