A Fairfax County community board has formally voted against the Plaza 500 data center and associated electrical substation due to grid strain and zoning concerns.
The Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations is backing neighbors in their fight against the planned Plaza 500 data center campus and its associated electrical substation in Lincolnia. At its Aug. 27 membership meeting, the federation voted to oppose the 34-acre data center campus at 6295 and 6299 Edsall Road, proposed by Starwood Capital Group, as well as the substation proposed by Dominion Energy.
In its resolution, the federation cited the campus’s proximity—just 67 feet from the nearest residential property line—a bordering resource protection area along Turkeycock Run, and the broader economic and environmental impacts of data center development.
Although Starwood’s data center is permitted by right under current county zoning, the proposed substation on Edsall Road faces a Public Facilities 2232 review by the Fairfax County Planning Commission at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 2. The hearing was originally scheduled for Sept. 24 but was postponed at Dominion Energy’s request to allow time for additional research. Meanwhile, the State Corporation Commission has already approved nearly a mile of new transmission lines connecting the proposed Edsall Road substation to the existing Van Dorn substation.
Tyler Ray, founder of the Save Bren Mar coalition and president of the Bren Pointe Homeowners Association, told federation members that the proposed substation sits less than a mile from the Van Dorn Street Metro station and falls within a two-mile radius of approximately 85,000 residents across Fairfax County and Alexandria. Covering roughly five acres, the facility is designed to deliver 176 megawatts to power the planned data center.
“The amount of energy that this would produce would be enough of a rough estimate to power between 40,120 homes based on its load,” Ray said. “So, it’s not your small substation that you see tucked into residential neighborhoods. It is a massive hyperscale.”
Ray noted that although the Plaza 500 site is zoned for industrial development, its previous uses have included offices and warehouses.
“The visual appearance for this project is heavy industrialization, and it will not be in keeping with the character of either the past, current, or future planned uses, facilities, or buildings of this area,” Ray said. “It would replace a current 35-foot-tall brick and glass building and a tree-lined parking lot that has been occupied by multiple commercial enterprises since 1976 when it was built and will bring with that instead much more noise and light pollution.”
While Save Bren Mar coalition members supported the Board of Supervisors’ 2024 adoption of stricter zoning rules for data centers, those regulations explicitly exempted pending applications, including the Plaza 500 proposal. Now, however, the coalition points to mounting public opposition to data center development as a key advantage.
“Even in 2024, when the board rejected applying the standards to us, the tide has really shifted,” Ray said. “I think we’re in a different ball game in terms of public perception, political calculus, and all those factors.”
Ray highlighted the coalition’s ongoing efforts to secure formal opposition from elected officials regarding the substation. Officials who have publicly opposed the project include U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8), Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez, Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and the Alexandria City Council, state Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-39), and House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-4). Additionally, Del. Vivian Watts (D-14) has voiced opposition to a data center at the site.
“We still have work to do to encourage our other Board of Supervisors members to oppose this,” Ray said. “We are hopeful that the Planning Commission will recommend denial, but then leaves itself to potentially be appealed to the board.”
Beyond formally opposing the Plaza 500 project, the federation passed a resolution urging the Virginia General Assembly to phase out the sales tax exemption for data centers. Specifically, the resolution asks legislators to advance the exemption’s sunset date from June 30, 2035, to Jan. 1, 2028. While the most recent state budget retained the sales tax exemption, it simultaneously introduced a new electricity consumption tax targeting data centers.
Emily Leayman is a senior reporter at ARLnow, ALXnow, and FFXnow. She was previously a field editor covering parts of Northern Virginia for Patch for more than eight years. A native of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, she lives in Northern Virginia.