Giant Virginia Data Center Project Upended by Clerical Error

A sign advertising a December meeting where local officials voted on the Digital Gateway project in Manassas, Virginia in 2023.Photographer: Dawn Lim/Bloomberg

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By Dawn Lim

May 8, 2026 at 2:15 PM UTC

Updated on

May 8, 2026 at 4:25 PM UTC

Developers bankrolled by two of the world’s biggest asset managers set their sights on building a massive data-center hub in Northern Virginia. A battle over newspaper advertising threw their plans into disarray.

Compass Datacenters, backed by investment giant Brookfield Asset Management, abandoned plans for an 800-plus acre campus in Virginia’s Prince William County. Blackstone Inc.’s QTS is fighting in court to salvage a similarly sized development on adjacent parcels.