Data Center Alley Goes Dark: Amazon Abandons Data Centers In Loudoun County
23rd October 2026
Finishing a data center in America has become a logistical nightmare. Now just starting one is turning into a problem too, even in the one county that was supposed to say yes to everything.
Back in April, when we reported that “Half Of US Data Centers Scheduled To Start In 2026, Will Be Canceled Or Delayed,” the blame was spread across the usual suspects: power, transformers, permitting and a vague, growing sense that the locals were getting restless. Two months later, Blackstone sold its stake in three Northern Virginia data centers amid grassroot outrage, cashing out of a bet it made less than three years earlier, in the heart of what is known, with zero irony, as “Data Center Alley.”
And now the restless locals have claimed their biggest scalp yet.
According to the Washington Post, Amazon has scrapped a plan to build data centers on the site of George Washington University’s former campus in Ashburn, Northern Virginia, after reaching an agreement with local officials amid widespread opposition from residents. Under the deal announced Tuesday by Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis J. Randall, Amazon will repurpose the majority of the 122-acre campus for mixed-use and residential development, and commit to never building data centers on the land. It will also donate 25 acres to the county for a community arts center and recreational facility, and hand $5 million to the county’s housing fund.