Charlotte, North Carolina-based TAC Data Centers has announced plans to build a large data center complex in eastern Wythe County, Virginia, a project that would require more than a gigawatt of power capacity and cover approximately 1,000 acres just off Interstate 81 near the Pulaski County line.

Scale and Scope of the Project

The proposed campus would consist of nine to eleven buildings totaling between 3.5 million and 4 million square feet.

The power requirement of over 1,000 megawatts is substantial enough that, assuming average household consumption of 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, it would be sufficient to supply electricity to approximately 730,000 average homes.

The site is owned by the Rogg Partnership and sits just southeast of I-81, roughly 10 miles east of the town of Wytheville.

Residential properties lie to the west of the site, businesses are located across the highway to the northwest, and Pulaski County borders the property to the east.

TAC said it selected the location due to its proximity to the interstate and to high-voltage, 765-kilovolt electric transmission lines, as well as the company's stated goals of minimizing traffic on local roads and keeping the development separated from residential areas. The location falls within Appalachian Power's service territory.

Developer Background

TAC Data Centers is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based The Ardent Companies, a private equity real estate investment and development firm.

The company has existing projects in Charlotte and Northern Virginia. Bryan Durrett, general counsel for TAC Data Centers, described Wythe County's infrastructure and leadership as making the county "an obvious place to invest." "We've designed this campus from the start around being a good neighbor, minimal traffic, minimal visual impact, minimal noise, and minimal water use, while delivering the kind of long-term tax base that funds schools and services for generations," Durrett said in a statement.

Water and Environmental Considerations

TAC stated that its Wythe County facilities will use a small fraction of the water consumed by older data center facilities, with the project's cooling approach specifically engineered to limit demand on local water resources.

The company said it intends to be a "responsible corporate citizen and long-term community partner." The project will not require rezoning approval from the Wythe County Board of Supervisors.

Wythe County is one of a small number of counties in Virginia that currently operate without a zoning ordinance, meaning the development will instead require local building permits and state environmental permits.

County officials have been in the process of drafting a zoning ordinance for possible adoption, citing reasons that include growth pressures along interstates and in key development corridors, as well as concerns about the size and location of solar farms, data centers, and other large-scale projects.

County Response

County Administrator Stephen Bear expressed a welcoming stance toward the development.

"This private development will bring additional tax revenue to the county, which will support meaningful investments in, but not limited to, school construction, law enforcement, emergency services, and infrastructure development," Bear said in an email statement.

Bear added that the county looks forward to working with TAC as it develops the project and brings full-time jobs to the area. Wythe County has a population of approximately 28,000.

Second Major Data Center Announcement for Wythe County

The TAC project represents the second data center development announced for Wythe County. A company called Solis Arx has separately announced plans to develop a 99-acre lot in the county's Progress Park to support artificial intelligence and other advanced computing applications.

At a December meeting of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors, residents voiced concerns about the Solis Arx project's potential effects on the county's utilities and rural environment, reflecting a pattern of community pushback that data center developers frequently encounter across Virginia.

Common concerns raised at such meetings include electricity and water usage, air pollution, noise levels, and visual impacts.

Part of a Broader Regional Trend

Virginia is recognized as the world's largest data center market, with development historically concentrated in Northern Virginia.

In recent years, however, Southwest and Southside Virginia have attracted an increasing number of proposed projects, as developers seek advantages including cheaper land and lower taxes.

Other recently announced projects in the broader region include a Google data center in Botetourt County, a complex in Wise County, and a Stack Infrastructure development in Pittsylvania County.

The TAC announcement in Wythe County adds to a growing list of large-scale technology infrastructure investments moving into areas of Virginia that had not previously been associated with the data center industry.