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Data Center Watch Report · ZIP 23231

Richmond (Varina/White Oak)

Henrico

OperatingZIP 59.2% Blackpop 37,949

Operating + Under construction + Approved (multiple hyperscale campuses; large QTS expansion advancing)

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (1 resident report, 2026-06-22) · ZIP demographics: 59.2% Black, pop 37,949 (Census ACS 2023) · County: Henrico (majority-white; ~29–30% Black per Census ACS) Status: Operating + Under construction + Approved (multiple hyperscale campuses; large QTS expansion advancing)

This report is research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice.

0. Snapshot

ZIP 23231 covers eastern Henrico County — Varina, Sandston, and the White Oak Technology Park (WOTP) corridor south of Interstate 64. This is not a "watch for a future proposal" ZIP. It is one of Virginia's fastest-growing data-center clusters outside Northern Virginia, and it sits in a majority-Black part of an otherwise majority-white county. QTS already operates 16 built or in-development buildings (3+ million sq ft) at WOTP; Meta runs a completed campus; and QTS is now advancing a roughly 1,100-acre, 17-building expansion that would push its campus toward 8 million sq ft and 26 buildings. Henrico enacted stricter data-center rules in 2025–2026, and 100+ residents packed a May 2026 Varina town hall in opposition.

Note on geography: Henrico County and the City of Richmond are SEPARATE governments. WOTP and the data centers are in Henrico County (Varina District), even though the mailing city is "Richmond" and the ZIP is shared. Contact Henrico County — not City of Richmond — for these sites.

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

White Oak Technology Park is a county-owned/marketed industrial park in eastern Henrico, around Technology Boulevard near its intersection with East Williamsburg Road, south of I-64, in the Sandston/Varina area. Known facilities and projects:

  • QTS Data Centers (Richmond NAP + WOTP campus) — anchor tenant. QTS Richmond NAP opened in 2017 as a transatlantic subsea-cable landing hub (three cables converge from Spain, Brazil/Puerto Rico, and France; DE-CIX Richmond and Google's Dunant cable, ~250 Tbps, connect here). QTS now has 16 constructed or in-development buildings totaling 3+ million sq ft. Expansion (2026): QTS is advancing two campus expansions adding ~1,100 acres in Varina and 17 new buildings, targeting ~8 million sq ft and 26 buildings overall. Land assembly: 220 acres in Sandston bought Dec 2023 ($17.3M); 400 acres from Hourigan July 2024 ($119M); and a completed ~$137M purchase of rezoned tech-park land. Status: Operating + Under construction + Approved/advancing.
  • Meta (Facebook) Henrico Data Center — ~130 acres at WOTP, completed ~2023; serves Facebook/WhatsApp/Instagram. Status: Operating.
  • Iron Mountain — 66 acres purchased Nov 2024 ($8M); four data-center buildings planned. Status: Approved/planned.
  • DC Blox — ~30-acre former Azalea Flea Market site (acquired early 2025), converting ~5 acres initially. Status: Planned.
  • Hourigan rezoning — 622-acre WOTP outgrowth rezoned May 2024 (reportedly includes Civil War battlefield land), at Technology Boulevard/East Williamsburg Road.

Where it sits: WOTP is in the Varina District, the historically Black, more rural east end of Henrico. Per reporting on the county's own analysis, 38% of Henrico's data-center sites are within 200 feet of residential zoning — i.e., next to where people live. Residents report audible low-frequency noise.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

  • Technology Boulevard Special Focus Area (TBSFA) overlay — a 2026 Comprehensive Plan amendment creating an overlay of ~80 parcels / ~3,100 acres south of I-64 to concentrate/steer data centers and impose design and review standards. Henrico Planning Commission recommended approval at a joint May 15, 2026 meeting; the Board of Supervisors deferred to June 10, 2026 for amendments, then approved the new data-center regulations on June 10, 2026.
  • 2025 rules: Henrico now requires public hearings and special use permits (SUPs) for new data-center projects — developers must obtain an SUP and go through a public hearing before breaking ground.
  • Planning Commission opposition: Planners have opposed at least one of the QTS Varina campus expansions (reported by Data Center Dynamics), signaling the SUP process is contested, not a rubber stamp.
  • Verify before relying on these: case numbers and exact vote tallies were not fully captured here. Confirm current QTS SUP case numbers and hearing dates on Henrico's agenda system (see §8).

3. Power

  • Serving utility: Dominion Energy Virginia.
  • Statewide context (JLARC, Dec 9, 2024): an independent forecast for Virginia's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found unconstrained power demand could double within ~10 years, driven mainly by data centers; most new data centers draw 100–300 MW each. This is the study to read (jlarc.virginia.gov).
  • Who pays — the nationally significant case: In the 2025 Dominion biennial review, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved a new GS-5 rate class for customers ≥25 MW with load factor >75%, effective Jan 1, 2027. It requires large loads (most data centers) to sign 14-year contracts and pay minimums of 85% of contracted distribution/transmission demand and 60% of generation demand — designed so data centers, not households, cover the cost of the infrastructure they trigger. The SCC allowed base-rate increases of $565.7M (2026) and $209.9M (2027), below Dominion's $822M/$345M requests, and ordered Dominion to bring alternative large-load cost-allocation proposals in future cases. (Inside Climate News; SELC; SCC.)

4. Water & Drought

  • Cooling water: reporting cites roughly 6.7 million gallons per year per facility for cooling at WOTP — a live community concern as AI buildout accelerates. Henrico's water system draws primarily from the James River.
  • Drought (2026): As of July 28, 2026, ~68% of Virginia was under drought conditions and the whole state was under drought watch/warning advisories. Henrico is in the Middle James evaluation region (drought watch/warning). Richmond issued its first voluntary water-conservation advisory since 2002 on July 1, 2026 as the James River ran below normal. (Virginia DEQ; U.S. Drought Monitor.)

5. Population & Who Lives Here

ZIP 23231 is 59.2% Black, pop 37,949 (Census ACS 2023) — a majority-Black east-end community inside Henrico County, which is only ~30% Black overall. Varina is the historically Black, more rural/agricultural side of the county; residents (e.g., Aileen Rivera, a Varina resident since 1993) have pressed for "smart growth" and East End preservation. The pattern here fits the environmental-justice frame: the county's heaviest data-center concentration is landing in its majority-Black district.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

  • Tax on data-center equipment: Henrico raised the machinery/tools-style rate on data centers from 40 cents to $2.60 per $100 of assessed value in 2025, with revenue directed toward an Affordable Housing Trust Fund — a comparatively aggressive local move to capture value (contrast with jurisdictions that abate heavily).
  • Community giving: Meta reported ~$4 million to local schools and nonprofits (grants including James River Association funding).
  • Jobs: data centers generate large tax bases but modest permanent headcount; verify specific job commitments per project in the SUP staff reports (§8).

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

  • May 19, 2026 Varina town hall (Varina Library): 100+ residents filled the room and hallway to oppose data-center expansion, especially the QTS 17-building plan.
  • Local outlets covering this closely: The Richmonder, VPM, Richmond BizSense, WTVR CBS 6, WRIC 8News, The Henrico Citizen, Virginia Business, Data Center Frontier, Data Center Dynamics, GovTech.
  • Concerns raised: proximity to homes (200-ft cases), low-frequency noise, water use in drought, grid/rate impacts, and loss of rural Varina character.

8. Find Out For Yourself

Henrico County — the right government (NOT City of Richmond).

  • Varina District Supervisor: Tyrone E. Nelson — office (804) 501-4208, email varina@henrico.gov (source: henrico.gov/supervisors/varina-district). He chairs/has chaired the Board and represents WOTP.
  • Board of Supervisors / agendas & minutes: henrico.gov — search "Board of Supervisors meetings" for agendas, packets, and video; SUP and rezoning cases post here.
  • Planning Department (SUPs, rezonings, overlay): Henrico County Planning, henrico.gov (Planning) — request the QTS SUP staff reports and the TBSFA overlay documents.
  • Meeting schedule: Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission meet on a regular monthly cycle (joint sessions occur, e.g., the May 15, 2026 joint meeting). Confirm dates on the county calendar before attending.
  • Power/rates: Virginia SCC — file or read comments in Dominion rate cases at scc.virginia.gov (see the 2025 biennial review / GS-5 rate-class docket).
  • State study: JLARC "Data Centers in Virginia," jlarc.virginia.gov.

Questions worth asking when you call:

  1. What are the current QTS SUP case numbers, and when are the next public hearings?
  2. How close will the 17 new buildings be to homes, schools, and churches in Varina — and what noise, setback, and buffer conditions are attached?
  3. How many gallons per day will the expanded campus withdraw, from what source, and how does that square with the 2026 drought advisory?
  4. Under the new GS-5 rate class, will any transmission/substation cost land on Henrico households, or is it fully on the data-center class?
  5. What permanent (not construction) jobs are promised per building, in writing?
  6. Where exactly is the $2.60/$100 data-center tax revenue going, and how much has it raised for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund?

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

Varina/eastern Henrico is a real, ongoing data-center buildout, not a rumor. If you're weighing a move:

  • Noise/light: low-frequency hum is a documented resident complaint; a large share of county sites sit within 200 ft of residential zoning. Visit at night near WOTP.
  • Water/power reliability: the region is in active drought (first Richmond conservation advisory since 2002 in July 2026), and Dominion's grid is under historic load-growth pressure. Cooling-water demand is a live issue.
  • Land-price pressure: aggressive land assembly (QTS paid $119M for 400 acres) is reshaping the market around WOTP.
  • What's unresolved: exact scale/timing of the QTS expansion (SUPs still contested), how the TBSFA overlay is enforced, and how much rate/infrastructure cost the new GS-5 class actually keeps off households. Henrico's 2025–2026 rules are more protective than many jurisdictions', which cuts both ways for a prospective resident.

None of this is investment or real-estate advice — verify current filings yourself (§8).

10. Sources

All accessed 2026-08-02:

Lead source: resident reports on the Brockovich AI Data Center community map, then independently verified against public records. Research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice. Some resident-reported pins remain uncorroborated and are labeled as such above.