Data center project proposed for 120-acre site in Powhatan County

Province Group is seeking a rezoning to allow the construction of a data center campus on 120 acres on the Powhatan-Chesterfield line. (Courtesy Powhatan County)

A large assemblage in Powhatan once eyed for a mixed-use project is now being pitched as the county’s first data center campus.

California-based developer Province Group is seeking zoning approval for a 1.5 million-square-foot data center project on 120 acres on the Powhatan-Chesterfield line.

The project site consists of three parcels, one of them being 1318 Page Road. The project would rise near Anderson Highway’s intersection with Page Road. Province has the properties under contract.

The Planning Commission is tentatively scheduled to vote June 4 on whether to recommend approval of the project, which is expected to feature data center facilities spread across three buildings.

The county’s Board of Supervisors will provide a final verdict at a future meeting.

The project applicant is LC West LLC, an entity that’s tied to Province Group. The developer didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.

The developer wants to rezone the project site to light industrial from the current agricultural designation. The project site is considered an economic opportunity zone within Powhatan’s 2021 countywide future land use plan.

The firm has also requested a conditional use permit to allow the data center’s structures to exceed a 45-foot height ceiling. If approved, buildings would be able to rise to 75 feet. About 24 acres, or 20% of the site, would be dedicated open space, including about 9 acres of buffers, easements and conservation area, according to the rezoning application.

Richmond attorney Jeff Geiger of Hirschler is representing the applicant in the zoning process.

S.L. Nusbaum’s Andrew Thacker and Sarah Sadler are representing Province in the pending land deal.

The pending data center isn’t the first development proposal for the property, which is near Westchester Commons and owned by New County Line Farm LLC, an entity tied to Harold and Christina Ellis.

Local firm East West pitched a 250-home project with commercial space for the same site in 2019. That project was ultimately rejected by the Board of Supervisors.

Province was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. The company’s website states the firm has developed, renovated, acquired or entitled more than 75 projects with a combined value of more than $850 million.

The company has developed commercial and residential projects in its home state as well as in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Washington and Hawaii, per its website. It would appear that the proposed Powhatan project would be the company’s first development in the Richmond region.

The Powhatan development would be one of several proposed data center projects across the region. The Hanover Board of Supervisors recently approved a rezoning needed for the creation of a data center development on 1,200 acres near Ashland. Data center company Chirisa is planning new facilities at Meadowville Technology Park in Chesterfield.

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