$100B data center project proposed at Berry Hill megasite advances

Members of the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority unanimously approved a local performance agreement Monday with Denver-based data center developer and operator Stack Infrastructure for a proposed data center campus at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill.

Under the performance metrics in the agreement, Stack will invest at least $73.5 billion at the site and create at least 2,050 jobs at an $80,500 average annual wage. A timeline for the agreement was not available Monday.

However, the company’s planned investment is currently about $100 billion over three decades with 2,500 jobs in two decades.

In a presentation Monday, Matt Rowe, Pittsylvania County‘s economic development director, called the deal “one of the largest single site investments ever announced in the U.S.”

If Stack Infrastructure does not meet the job targets in the agreement, it will have to make “monetary payments,” Rowe explained during the presentation. The amount was not specified. If Stack does not meet the provisions of the agreement, Pittsylvania County leaders also have the right to change its data center equipment tax rate.

Pittsylvania County will tax the company at a rate of $1.62 per $100 of assessed value on data center equipment. The funds will be split by the city and the county.

“Stack Infrastructure is encouraged and excited by today’s development,” the company said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “Unanimous approval of the local performance agreement marks a major milestone in the longstanding effort to bring new, community-first economic growth to the Danville-Pittsylvania area.”

At the megasite, which is owned by the RIFA, Stack’s data center campus will be built in phases, with the first phase including at least 1,000 acres.

Under the agreement, Stack will provide a minimum annual tax of $16.25 million for 1,000 acres. This allows Pittsylvania and Danville to see financial benefit even if the company is slow to get started on operations.

Those taxes would begin likely in fall 2027 or 2028, according to an unnamed company official who spoke with Virginia Business Monday.

If Stack buys all 2,990 acres of property at the megasite, the company will pay about $48.6 million cumulatively to Danville and Pittsylvania a year.

Editor’s note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.