Vantage Data Centers, a hyperscale data center operator, which is backed by lead investor DigitalBridge, has expanded aggressively over the past 7 months, acquiring more than 150 acres of land in the Northern Virginia sub-markets of Ashburn and Sterling, Virginia. Through three separate transactions, totaling over $225m in land purchases, Vantage is establishing the foundations for its VA2 and VA3 data center campuses in Northern Virginia.
To this end, below is a summary of Vantage Data Centers’ most recent land purchases in Ashburn and Sterling, Virginia:
| Property | Location | Campus | Acres | Price |
| 19509 Belmont Ridge Road | Ashburn | VA3 | 134.4 | $180m |
| Glenn Drive & Belfort Park | Sterling | VA2 | 9.1 | $17.5m |
| 22318 Glenn Drive | Sterling | VA2 | 9.5 | $28.5m |
| Total | — | — | 153.0 | $226m |
Ultimately, Vantage Data Centers’ VA2 and VA3 campuses will complement the company’s existing 42-acre Ashburn, Virginia campus, known as VA1. At full build-out, Vantage’s $1bn VA1 campus will house five multi-story facilities, offering 146 megawatts of critical IT load across 1+ million square feet.
VA3 – Ashburn, Virginia – Vantage Data Centers
On March 31, 2022, Vantage Data Centers, through the entity Vantage Data Centers VA3 LLC, acquired 134.4 acres of land located at 19509 Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn, Virginia. Particularly, Vantage acquired this land for $180m, implying a valuation of $1.34m per acre. The seller was Barcroft Associates, an entity controlled by Charles (Chuck) B DeLashmutt.
As shown above, the 19509 Belmont Ridge Road property is located on the west side of Belmont Ridge Road (Route 659), south of Harry Byrd Highway (Route 7), and east of Goose Creek, a State-designated scenic river. Directly to the south of the property, are five land parcels owned by SDC Capital Partners, a digital infrastructure private equity firm, which collectively comprise over 84 acres of land.
Additionally, ~3 miles southwest of Vantage Data Centers’ 19509 Belmont Ridge Road site is Compass Datacenters’ contentious data center development project known as True North Data, which is also being built along the scenic Goose Creek. On this 97-acre site, Compass is building a data center campus which, at full build-out, will comprise over 75 megawatts of power capacity across 625k sqft.
VA2 – Sterling, Virginia – Vantage Data Centers
On October 27, 2021, Vantage Data Centers, through the entity Vantage Data Centers VA2 LLC, acquired 9.1 acres of land bounded by Shaw Road to the west, First Potomac Way to the south, Glenn Drive to the east, and Belfort Park Drive to the north, in Sterling, Virginia. Specifically, Vantage acquired this land for $17.5m, equating to a valuation of $1.9m per acre. The seller was Belfort Park LLC, an entity controlled by Belfort Furniture, a local furniture retailer led by Michael Huber as CEO.
The following day, Vantage Data Centers purchased a similar-sized land parcel adjacent to its first VA2 site acquisition. On October 28, 2021, the company, through its entity Vantage Data Centers VA2 LLC, acquired 9.5 acres of land located at 22318 Glenn Drive in Sterling, Virginia. Particularly, Vantage acquired this land for $28.5m, inferring a valuation of $3.0m per acre. The seller was FP Sterling Park Land, LLC, a subsidiary of Office Properties Income Trust (NASDAQ: OPI), which is managed by RMR Group (NASDAQ: RMR).
Site Overview
Collectively, Vantage Data Centers’ 18.6 acres of land located to the east of Route 28 (Sully Road) in Sterling, Virginia forms the site for its VA2 data center campus.
As part of Loudoun County’s, Fast-Track Commercial Incentive Program, Vantage disclosed that, initially, it plans to build a 24-megawatt, 360k sqft data center, which could eventually scale up to 96 megawatts across 800k sqft. To develop this site, Vantage estimates that its project investment will be $380m+ and the facility will create 35 new permanent jobs.
To-date, Vantage Data Centers has submitted a Special Exception application to Loudoun County for the purposes of increasing the floor area ratio (FAR) on the property from a 0.6 to 1.0. Additionally, Vantage has produced an initial site plan, for its VA2 Building 1, which outlines the company’s desire to build a multi-story data center with gross floor area of 354.5k sqft on a building footprint area of 119.2k sqft.
Vantage Data Centers – Portfolio Overview
Vantage Data Centers is developing and operating data centers across five continents in 18 markets globally:
- North America (6 markets): Ashburn, Virginia; Phoenix (Goodyear), Arizona; Quincy, Washington; Santa Clara, California; Montreal, Canada; Quebec City, Canada
- Europe (6 markets): Berlin, Germany; Frankfurt (Offenbach), Germany; Milan, Italy; Warsaw, Poland; Zürich, Switzerland; Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Asia (4 markets): Osaka, Japan; Tokyo, Japan; Hong Kong, SAR; Kuala Lumpur (Cyberjaya), Malaysia
- Africa (1 market): Johannesburg, South Africa
- Australia (1 market): Melbourne, Australia
READ MORE: Data Centers in Virginia – Ashburn, Loudoun
