Amazon is reversing its plan to expand its data center footprint in Virginia, abandoning a $427 million proposal to build data centers on George Washington University's Virginia campus. The company will instead donate roughly 25 acres of the property to Loudoun County for community facilities.
The agreement, dubbed "Project Potomac Promise" by Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall, calls for Amazon to withdraw its data center site plan, abandon legal action to pursue development on the property, and work with the county to rezone the remaining land for mixed-use development with housing as the predominant use. Amazon will also contribute $5 million to the county's affordable housing efforts through the Loudoun County Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
"My goal was to disallow data centers or infrastructure that could support data centers on this property," Randall said in a press conference alongside Amazon Web Services data center delivery vice president Joshua Weissman. "Through our collaborative, respectful conversations, Amazon has agreed to forego its proposed application for data centers, and of note, forego any legal action to realize data center development on this site."
The reversal follows a contentious process that began in February when GWU president Ellen Granberg announced the university had sold the campus without identifying the buyer. The university's student newspaper, The GW Hatchet, later identified Amazon Data Services as the buyer, which had purchased the property for $427 million. In late July, Amazon filed a site plan for a proposed data center development named "Bridgefield Tech Center," calling for four two-story data center buildings totaling more than 800,000 square feet.
The proposal drew strong opposition from local officials. Algonkian district supervisor Juli Briskman called for county staff to examine the potential effects of the development. "Replacing the George Washington University campus with four massive data center buildings would be a profound loss for our community," Briskman said in a press release. "The site offers a generational opportunity for education, research, housing, and other forms of economic development."
Amazon eventually decided to pursue a deal with Loudoun County. "There was not a moment where it was decided that this was a bad idea," Weissman said. "We just heard from the community. We partnered with Loudoun, and we just decided this was just the right thing to do."
The land donation has a stated fair market value of about $65 million. The land is intended to accommodate a community arts center and an indoor sports and recreation facility. Randall said the county would organize public meetings to solicit residents' input on the redevelopment, and expects the rezoning process to take about a year even under a fast-track schedule.
Amazon has a long history in Virginia's "data center alley," where the highest concentration of data centers in the world is located. According to Weissman, the company has invested more than $63 billion with more than 3,400 Amazon employees in Loudoun County since 2011. The county reported approximately 233 existing data center buildings, representing about 56.5 million square feet of space. Data centers generated approximately $1.2 billion in real and personal property tax revenue in fiscal 2026, or 39% of the county's overall budget.
Weissman said Loudoun will be a focus for Amazon's "Built Together" commitment, which includes tuition assistance for community colleges and local project funding.