QTS finishes $137M purchase of rezoned Henrico tech park land

QTS Data Centers has secured ownership of all 622 acres of the recently rezoned site for the White Oak Technology Park II project in Henrico County’s Sandston area for approximately $137 million.

On June 28, a limited liability company belonging to QTS bought the remaining portion of the site that it hadn’t yet acquired — about 397 acres — for $118.8 million from a limited liability company belonging to Richmond development company Hourigan, county records show. Hourigan shepherded the land through its county rezoning process to light industrial.

The LLC owned by Hourigan purchased the land that day, buying about 223 acres for $38.05 million from Atlantic Crossing and 174 acres from Vienna Finance for $20.5 million.

“[QTS] came to us with a vision and a plan for eastern Henrico that allowed them to have complete control of that entire site,” said Hourigan founder and CEO Mark Hourigan, “and in evaluating all the options and ways that we might be able to consider moving forward with that, we thought that was the best long-term outcome for the county and for that site, is to have someone with a proven track record [and] the capital behind them to be able to make that kind of investment.”

QTS previously acquired the other approximately 225 acres of the site and some 4 outlying acres from Harmon Properties, Brenda H. Sargent and John C. Harmon in several December 2023 transactions totaling $18 million.

The Kansas-based company already has a data center campus in the original, adjacent White Oak Technology Park and announced in 2022 plans for a 1.5 million-square-foot expansion. Also in that park is QTS’ network access point, which connects, through Virginia Beach landing stations, to three subsea internet cables originating in Europe and South America.

A company spokesperson said QTS was unable to share details of its project plans at this time.

Hourigan said, “It is a fabulous opportunity for Henrico County and to drive this region forward, and allows QTS to continue their business plan, and I think a great solution for everyone that was involved.”

Project past and future

During the rezoning process, which began with initial filings in late 2023, county residents raised concerns about environmental impacts and losing part of a Civil War battlefield. Ultimately, the county planning commission recommended approving the rezoning in April.

The Henrico County Board of Supervisors voted to rezone the site on May 14. On May 16, the board announced the county was establishing a $60 million affordable housing trust fund that would be funded by unbudgeted local tax revenue from data centers.

“We are incredibly excited about the industrial development that is happening and that will be happening in eastern Henrico,” said Anthony Romanello, executive director of the Henrico Economic Development Authority. With the establishment of the affordable housing trust fund, “developments like what’s happening in White Oak, like what QTS is doing, are really helping to make Henrico an even greater community.”

Now that the site has been rezoned, Romanello said, next steps include installing infrastructure such as water, sewer and power lines at the site by 2026. According to county documents, Hourigan will install sewer infrastructure for the project, while the county will handle water infrastructure.

Dominion Energy had to apply to the State Corporation Commission for approval to install two 230-kilovolt power lines to the site and expand its existing White Oak substation. In October 2023 testimony, a Hourigan representative referred to the proposed project, then consisting of about 320 acres, as the VAH Data Center Campus, referring to the property owners at the time: Vienna Finance, Atlantic Crossing and Hourigan. The SCC approved Dominion Energy’s application in March.

“I think we’ve had a very strong industrial base in Henrico — and I’m including data centers in industrial — and it’s getting a whole lot stronger with the investment that Hourigan and QTS are making,” Romanello said.

Brent Godwin contributed to this article.