Amazon, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Amazon Data Services, Inc., via the entity Marvell Developments, LLC, has submitted an application to the Culpeper County Planning Commission to rezone over 243 acres of land, from A-1 (Agricultural) to LI (Light Industrial), in Stevensburg, which is part of Culpeper County, Virginia. Importantly, LI (Light Industrial) zoning would allow Amazon’s cloud computing segment, Amazon Web Services (AWS), to develop data centers as a permitted use on this land.
Map of Stevensburg and Culpeper County, Virginia
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data Center in Culpeper County, Virginia
Amazon is the contract purchaser, from owner Irene W. Carnes, of the property located at 20420 Germanna Highway, which intersects with Clay Hill Road, in Stevensburg, Virginia. Overall, the property is bounded on the north by Germanna Highway (Route 3), and on the east, south, and west by adjacent land parcels.
Presently, the site is home to the Magnolia Equestrian Center, which offers horse boarding, training, and riding lessons.
Development Plan
Amazon intends to build two, single-story data centers, in separate phases, which together will comprise a total of 427k sqft. As shown below, Building A will comprise 245k sqft and Building B will encompass 182k sqft.
Although LI (Light Industrial) zoning permits a maximum floor area ratio (FAR) of 0.50, Amazon is proposing an actual FAR of only 0.04. Indeed, this implies that Amazon intends to construct data centers on only ~10 acres of the 243-acre land parcel, instead of a possible 120+ acres.
Finally, Amazon’s proposed data centers will be ~45 feet in height, including water tanks and other mechanical equipment located on the roof of the buildings.
Phasing
Each of Amazon’s proposed data centers will require between 15 months to 30 months of site work, vertical construction, and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) build-out.
Power
Amazon has made a direct request to Dominion Virginia Electric to provide power to its site in Culpeper County, Virginia. Specifically, Amazon’s plans indicate the development of an electrical substation on 6 acres within the eastern portion of the site.
Facility Type
Amazon states that its data centers in Stevensburg (Culpeper County), Virginia will be “enterprise” facilities, meaning that they will be constructed by a single user for their own needs – implying Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Employment
During the data center’s development, Amazon anticipates that ~365 construction workers will be on-site at various times. Subsequently, upon completion of the development project, Amazon anticipates creating a total of ~90 jobs, with ~45 personnel required for each building. Particularly, these employees will include engineering technicians, data center operators, security personnel, and logistics personnel.
