Central Va. Year-in-Review: Region scores in manufacturing, data centers

Central Virginia continued making headway in manufacturing and offices in 2024, as well as seeing increased interest from the data center sector.

Growth is still taking place in Northern Virginia, home of Loudoun County’s famous “Data Center Alley,” where 70% of the world’s internet traffic courses, but as companies seek less expensive land for data center campuses, many are checking out Central Virginia.

In October 2024, Powhatan County approved a $2.7 billion campus on 119 acres bordering Chesterfield County, and in December 2024, Connecticut-based AVAIO Digital Partners signed an agreement to purchase 452 acres in Appomattox County for a $3 billion data center.

“The uptick in data center projects has ballooned in our pipeline from where it was at this point last year,” says Jennifer Wakefield, president and CEO of Greater Richmond Partnership.

Incoming data centers, as well as the entry of the $57 million Condair plant in Chesterfield, where the Swiss manufacturer will produce cooling equipment, humidifiers and dehumidifiers, will be a big part of the region’s economic development future. But Wakefield notes that manufacturing continued to be the “bread and butter” of the region’s announcements this year, as well as finance, insurance and entertainment.

Richmond

In September 2024, the Richmond Flying Squirrels and Richmond-based used car retailer CarMax announced the new Richmond ballpark and entertainment venue will be named CarMax Park.

Considered a cornerstone of the planned Diamond District development in Richmond, the ballpark will have a capacity of 10,000 attendees (including 8,000 seats), and the rest of the project will include 935,000 square feet of office space, 195,000 square feet of retail and community space, and two hotels with a total of 330 rooms, according to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. The entire project is estimated to cost $2.44 billion, according to the City of Richmond.

“The Diamond District has been something that folks have been working on for a long time, and we’re seeing it come to fruition,” says Katie McConnell, senior deputy director of Richmond Economic Development. “It’ll be a really good catalytic project.”

Richmonders can see “cranes and dirt moving” on the initial phases of the ballpark, McConnell says. The official groundbreaking on CarMax Park was in September 2024.

Also on the horizon is the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront, a $30 million open-air concert venue that’s set to open in June looking over the James River. Construction and development on CoStar Group’s $460 million campus expansion next door to the amphitheater also continued, McConnell says. The 750,000-square-foot campus will include the city’s tallest building at 425 feet and is expected to be complete in 2026.

Henrico County

Henrico County had its biggest year in history in 2024 from a capital investment standpoint, says Anthony Romanello, executive director of the Henrico Economic Development Authority, with investments totaling $7.6 billion and more than 1,300 jobs created.

“We hit on several sectors: manufacturing, retail, office headquarters, technology,” Romanello says. “That just speaks to the diversity and the strength of our economy.”

The largest projects announced in Henrico in 2024 were related to data centers, with Iron Mountain purchasing 66 acres for more than $8 million within the White Oak Technology Park in the eastern end of the county. QTS Data Centers also acquired 397 acres there for $118.8 million in June 2024, giving it a total plot of 622 acres, acquired for a cumulative $137 million.

Also, LL Flooring sold its 995,792-square-foot distribution center on 97.55 acres in White Oak Technology Park for $104.75 million to QTS in September 2024, as part of the former Lumber Liquidators chain’s bankruptcy proceedings. The land is adjacent to two other plots QTS owns.

Henrico also saw major investments for other industry projects, including a $10 million investment from Tucker Door & Trim, a Georgia-based distributor and manufacturer of doors, windows and specialty millwork for the construction industry. This project is expected to create 50 jobs.

KSB USA/North America, a supplier of pumps and industrial valves and a subsidiary of Germany’s KSB Group, also announced it would invest $25 million to expand its Henrico facility, creating 32 jobs.

Other highlights from the county’s year in economic development include the completion of DPR Construction’s new 15,000-square-foot office building and the relocation of Fortune 500 health care logistics company Owens & Minor to Innsbrook from Hanover County.

“We want to keep our economy really strong in all sectors,” Romanello says. “So, as we look at what the next five years is going to look like, you’re still going to see industrial and advanced manufacturing, and we do have some additional data center projects in the pipeline.”

Chesterfield County

The theme of 2024 in Chesterfield County was executing on large projects that have been in the pipeline for years, says Matt McLaren, deputy director of Chesterfield Economic Development. This included seeing the $1 billion Lego Group manufacturing plant moving forward and Plenty Unlimited’s opening of its $300 million project, the largest indoor vertical farm in the country, in September 2024.

Lego, meanwhile, has started construction of its 340-acre campus, with the first building expected to take shape this year. Plans were to start production in 2025, but that timeline was pushed back to 2027.

Late last year came another big announcement, when Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Massachusetts-based fusion energy company, said it plans to build the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant in Chesterfield, a nearly $3 billion investment. Spun out of MIT, CFS says it will build at the James River Industrial Center, a site owned by Dominion Energy, and be in operation in the early 2030s.

Business expansion was also a boon for the county in 2024, adding to Chesterfield’s overall $2.8 billion in new investments and nearly 1,200 jobs created. In September 2024, commercial and industrial contractor Atlantic Constructors Inc. announced it would double its headquarters in Chesterfield, a $25 million project. Engineering and manufacturing company Super Radiator Coils also announced a $22 million expansion in Chesterfield.

“They’re some of our oldest and longest businesses. They’ve been here 30 years plus,” says Garrett Hart, director of Chesterfield Economic Development. “For them to continue, again and again, [to invest] is a really good sign that they’re being successful in Chesterfield.”

Meanwhile, work on the 42-acre Springline at District 60 mixed-use development continued throughout 2024, with apartments and the civil engineering firm Timmons Group’s headquarters opening soon.

Rounding out Chesterfield’s year were Condair’s $57 million manufacturing facility, and the announcement in July 2024 that Danish electrolyzer manufacturer Topsoe planned to build a $400 million plant and create 150 jobs.

“We’re continuing to see companies that we would have never really thought about as potential economic development goals for us, or prospects for us, really come into our market,” McLaren says.

Hanover County

Hanover County also worked toward future data center projects in 2024. The county worked closely with land developers to approve land rezoning, including 1,200 acres north of the town of Ashland that will be solely dedicated to data center use, says Brandon Turner, director of Hanover County Economic Development. The county anticipates that during the next 20 years, there could be about $10 billion to $15 billion in investment in data centers in Hanover, creating at least 700 jobs, he says.

“Site work is starting as far as design and engineering, so it’s going to be a few years before we have anything going on up there from a building standpoint,” Turner says. “But the foundation has been laid for it.”

Another big win for Hanover in 2024 was the announcement that nursing home The Virginia Home would sell its Byrd Park facility in Richmond and move to a $120 million facility in Hanover, creating 250 jobs.

Hanover also saw a record year for tourism in 2024, thanks to a boost in sports tournaments and other attractions, Turner says.