Google data center campus spawns excitement, concern

Virginia’s booming data center industry is no longer confined to Northern Virginia. Google’s $14.1 million land purchase in Botetourt County last year is one of several signals that data center developers are looking farther afield — a shift met with both enthusiasm and concern.

In June 2025, Botetourt County officials announced the tech giant had purchased 312 acres of land zoned for data center use at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield, a business park in Daleville. Additionally, Google pledged to give the county an extra $4 million to support community projects.

Government and economic development officials touted Google’s plans as a massive win.

“This will end up being one of the largest projects in Botetourt County,” says Gary Larrowe, county administrator.

It will also be the first data center constructed along Virginia’s Interstate 81 corridor, points out John Hull, president and CEO of the Roanoke Regional Partnership.

“This represents an acquisition on behalf of one of the top five hyperscale AI data center companies in the world,” he says. “It’s an incredible success story.”

Documents Google filed with the state in early 2026 indicate the company will invest at least $3 billion in Botetourt and hire no fewer than 150 employees at a median salary of at least $86,000 per year if the first of three planned data center buildings is completed by 2030, according to the terms of a performance agreement between the county and Google.

Local governments typically like data center projects due to the hefty tax revenue and creation of indirect jobs. From construction to trade roles that support daily maintenance of the centers, a Data Center Coalition report found that at the national level, each job in a data center generates six jobs elsewhere in the economy.

“There’s going to be so many spinoffs from this that we will not realize it until decades from here,” Larrowe says.

The timeline for construction and opening of the data center is unclear. But engineering and survey work have begun, according to Larrowe.

Still, some Botetourt County residents are skeptical of Google’s plans. They’re concerned about taxes, noise, traffic and other disruptions.

Austen Schwend is a Botetourt resident who owns Schwend Waterjet, a local waterjet cutting, manufacturing and design business. In June 2025, Schwend unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary to represent Botetourt and neighboring localities in the Virginia House of Delegates. The seat is currently held by Del. Terry Austin.

Schwend is outspoken about his concerns about Google coming to the county, particularly the potential for higher taxes. “It’s hard to know all of the details, especially when you’re a normal person,” he says.

Across the wider Roanoke Valley, some residents have balked over plans for the data center to draw water from the Western Virginia Water Authority, a public utility that provides water to customers in Roanoke and the counties of Roanoke, Franklin and Botetourt.

Data centers typically require water to cool equipment, and higher water demand has become a larger concern as more campuses set to handle increased artificial intelligence applications crop up.

In contracts released to Virginia Business, the Western Virginia Water Authority redacted the estimated amount of water capacity volumes required for the data center. Michael McEvoy, executive director of the authority, noted in an email that the information was “provided to the authority voluntarily by a private business pursuant to a promise of confidentiality” as an explanation for the redactions.

What is known is that in September 2025 the water authority’s board authorized execution of two agreements. The first with Botetourt County will enable the authority to study and develop new water supply sources to meet the growing needs of the region, with the county funding most of this expense. The second agreement allows the authority to explore and develop new sustainable water infrastructure solutions, with Google funding the effort.

Future capacity needs for the Roanoke Valley, not the data center project, prompted the water authority to study additional water sources, according to McEvoy. There is plenty of water to accommodate a data center project currently, he says.

By 2060, however, the authority anticipates that the Roanoke region will need a new water source. Developing one typically takes about 20 years, McEvoy says, adding, “There’s an opportunity with the Google project coming in to accelerate that process.”

Virginia Business Associate Editor Beth JoJack contributed to this report.