Iron Mountain plans $1B data center campus in Henrico

Boston-based Iron Mountain has acquired a 66-acre site in Henrico County with plans for a major data center campus, the Greater Richmond Partnership announced Tuesday.

Henrico Economic Development Authority Executive Director Anthony Romanello says Iron Mountain’s campus in White Oak Technology Park will house four data center buildings covering more than 1 million square feet. He said the project will cost more than $1 billion and generate millions in tax revenue for the county. The business park in eastern Henrico features over 2,200 acres for technology and data center campuses.

“The most important thing is the long term tax revenue that we can use for schools, roads, parks, all of the services that are provided in the county,” Romanello said.

Iron Mountain, which touts itself as a global leader in storage and information management services, purchased the 66-acre site at 6110 Technology Creek Drive from Henrico’s EDA for about $8 million on Nov. 1, 2024, according to the county’s real estate assessment division.

A representative from Iron Mountain did not provide a timeline for when construction may begin or be complete, saying all information currently available is being provided in news releases. Romanello, who said the county is “very excited” about the project, also didn’t have a timeline but said, “We anticipate that they’ll be moving very quickly on the first building that they’re proposing.”

White Oak is home to other data centers owned and operated by Kansas-based QTS Data Centers and Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company. QTS also is set to build in White Oak Technology Park II nearby, and LL Flooring last year sold its 97-acre Sandston property to QTS for $104 million, including a 995,792-square-foot distribution center.

According to a release from Iron Mountain, its Henrico data center campus will produce more than 200 megawatts of expected capacity.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement that Iron Mountain’s project would create jobs and strengthen Virginia’s position within the data center industry. Mark Kidd, Iron Mountain’s executive vice president and general manager of asset lifecycle management and data centers, said in a news release that Henrico is the right place for the company to achieve its goals of delivering exceptional solutions for customers and making a positive contribution to the communities where it operates.

The Greater Richmond Partnership said it assisted Henrico County’s EDA and Virginia Economic Development Partnership with Iron Mountain’s decision.

“We are proud to add Iron Mountain to Henrico’s community, as our locality is a trailblazer in allocating data center tax revenue toward the Henrico Affordable Housing Trust Fund program,” said Henrico Supervisor Jody K. Rogish, a board member of the Greater Richmond Partnership.

Henrico’s supervisors established the trust fund, effective July 1, 2024, with $60 million in previously unbudgeted revenues from data centers, according to a release from the Greater Richmond Partnership.

Iron Mountain also recently acquired a 40-acre development site in Manassas for two new data center buildings. The company purchased the land, Manassas Point, from real estate investment management company PRP for $113.5 million in November 2024. Iron Mountain said the site will offer an estimated 150 MW of additional capacity and that the acquisition includes the planned development of an electricity substation to ensure continued uninterrupted power supply across the Manassas campus.

The company did not provide a construction timeline for the new Manassas site, and Prince William County‘s EDA did not return calls for comment immediately Tuesday.

Iron Mountain said the recent acquisitions in Henrico and Manassas strengthen its data center presence in Virginia. The company currently has a 142-acre campus in Manassas, offering more than 2 million square feet of energy-efficient space.