How To Avoid Living Near A Data Center in Northern Virginia

What is Data Center Alley? (Ashburn & Prince William)

So, Data Center Alley starts in Ashburn, but now stretches deep into Prince William County as well. Loudoun County alone has about 53 million square feet of data centers built or approved, and it's around 200 facilities, and they're still adding more as we speak. Those aren't office buildings. They're large windowless buildings with substations and backup generators. The backup generators are for power outages. The cooling equipment is what creates the constant humming that people complain about, and I'm sure you've seen a lot of that in the news. Now, these cooling systems, they actually run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So, the hum never actually stops. (1:22)

Now, a state report recently found more than one-third of Virginia's data centers are actually within 500 feet of residential zoning. In one Prince William County neighborhood, homes are around 600 feet from about four data centers. So, that's pretty close. I know there's one over in Haymarket that people paid lot premiums for, and they had these townhouses, and literally they built data centers, I would say, within 300 feet of them. It's absolutely insane. The residents have actually compared that noise to a helicopter that never lands. And you might be wondering if living this close to a data center hurts your home value. So, we're going to get into that later.

Now, believe it or not, Gainesville and Haymarket are now one of the fastest-growing data center areas in the United States. Last year, Prince William County had more than 40 data centers operating, and about 15 are under construction. Close to 60 facilities are already running or on the way. One approved Gainesville project alone includes four buildings and about 2 million square feet. In some areas, the data centers are finished before the roads are. That leaves traffic bottlenecks and unfinished intersections for the neighborhoods around them. As I said earlier, that's why so many buyers worry about this before they even start house hunting. So, if you're wondering how to avoid ending up next to one of these, that's where we're going to go look at next.

How to Check Zoning Maps & Overlay Districts

Now, if you're thinking about moving to Northern Virginia, I've got a free relocation guide linked below. You can also scan the QR code on the screen. This actually goes through everything that you need to know about Northern Virginia. And I want to help you figure out what area gives you the best tax benefits while putting you not so close to the noise, right? And that's something I help buyers with every day. I actually just had a YouTube viewer from California, and they're looking in Culpeper, and they said they did not want to be near a data center. I did a big report, did a deep dive, and found there was no overlay district and no plan. So they moved forward with their home purchase. That's the type of research that we can help you do. (2:59)

Now, most buyers never hear this from their agent. Obviously, if nobody checks the zoning, you could be waiting on county approval for having a data center built around your house. Don't guess when you're house hunting in this area. Check the county zoning map before you get attached to a house. Both Loudoun and Prince William have online maps where you can check the zoning around any address. Prince William County runs something called the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District showing where data centers can actually go. The county actually created this back in 2016 to push data centers towards areas that already had the power and infrastructure. In some parts of that zone, they can still be approved without a public hearing.

I mean, I know that actually happened over in Gainesville. There was one Merrifield Garden Center sold, and a lot of people were upset, and Jiffy Lube Live is actually in that as well. So, it's always a risk for Live Nation to go ahead and sell that because it's in the overlay district. Now, county leaders are working to end by-right approval completely. So, future data centers would need board approval, not just a rubber stamp. The goal is to give nearby homeowners more say before new projects get approved. If this does pass, it's not going to happen until late 2026 or early 2027. Data centers already built, under construction, or already approved would stay protected under the current rules.

So over in Loudoun, the rules changed last year. So no new data centers in some industrial zones now need public hearings and county approval. Projects within 500 feet of homes do not get grandfathered in with the old rules as well. And in a minute, I'm going to show you what's actually happening in the Ashburn market because it might, despite all this data center growth, actually surprise you.

Early Warning Signs of New Data Centers

The high-tension power lines near your neighborhood can be a warning sign. Dominion has been adding major power lines just to serve new data center substations. Also, watch for large substations on empty industrial land near Route 28 and Route 234 and western I-66. Even a new turning lane that doesn't seem to go anywhere can be an early sign that something bigger is coming, or you start to see all the trees start to get taken down. Obviously, zoning rules change, so always check the latest map before making an offer. (4:57)

You want an agent who checks the county plans and zoning maps, not one who just says the neighborhood looks nice. A proposed data center behind a neighborhood may not show up in the seller's disclosure. So, someone has to research that. What I usually do is I will go deep into it. We'll do a research project. We'll make sure of all that. We'll call the county for you. Like usually, obviously, we can pull up the map on the county and kind of see. So, we will check all this before you buy. You're protecting yourself from a problem that could affect your home for years, right? But what it actually does to home values isn't exactly what people think, which I found kind of interesting when I was doing research for this video.

Do Data Centers Ruin Home Values? (GMU Study Results)

Now, everyone worries about what happens when a data center moves in. The area changes, fewer people may want to live there, and home values could start to fall. But there's one big upside that hardly anyone talks about. And again, I'm trying to show you guys both sides of the story. Now, most buyers think a nearby data center means lower home values. George Mason University did a study with thousands of Northern Virginia sales and found no proof that data centers had actually lowered prices. Now, could that have been from the COVID kickoff and where the market has been lately with low inventory? That could also play into it. (5:51)

Homes further away actually sold for less on average. But that kind of makes sense, right? Because if you go further away from the data centers, which are going outside of Northern Virginia, the pattern showed up with single-family homes, townhomes, and condos. Some research suggests very few data center zip codes have actually lost value over time, and Northern Virginia's own numbers have backed that up. The sweet spot is getting the tax benefit without living close enough to be bothered by the facility.

The Tax Revenue Upside (Loudoun vs. Fairfax)

Here's the upside. Data centers do generate a huge amount of tax revenue without adding the costs that usually come with new development. Data centers don't add students to schools or the same traffic a new neighborhood does. So I do think about that a lot, right? Like, do you want a data center or do you want 5,000 homes? And that's something that I go back and forth on a lot, and I know even talking to some of the neighbors. But then it's like, you know, I feel like the counties, when they promised that this was going to be rural land forever, right? And then they switched it over to data center land. Like, you know, I know in Prince William you could only build on 10 acres in certain areas, and they got rid of it. Well, like what was the point of doing that back in the day and keeping it rural, but I get it, I guess, right? Do you want 10,000 homes or a bunch of 50-acre Walmart data centers, and that's something that everyone has to kind of debate on right now. (6:44)

One thing I will say is Loudoun County keeps that revenue to help keep residential taxes lower. Data centers brought Loudoun County about 900 million, close to 40% of its general fund. Without that revenue, Loudoun says its tax rate would climb from 80 cents to well over a dollar per 100. Fairfax's tax rate is about $1.12. So the yearly bill can be much higher on the same home for a buyer just across the county line. So I mean, yeah, in Loudoun, yeah, it's 80 cents per dollar, but in Fairfax, $1.12, man, Fairfax, that's pretty expensive. Using the zoning maps to find the areas to get that benefit without sitting right next to a data center is definitely something that I would recommend. Like I said, maybe you don't want to be on Data Center Alley, but you could be in Leesburg or Sterling, not as close to any, and you're not going to have the huge data centers, but you are going to get the tax benefits. But I don't know. I feel like in Loudoun lately, I'm seeing a lot of power lines and substations. That's for sure. So, you don't have to avoid the whole area. You just need to know how close is too close for you. Right now, let's look at how things play out in the market.

Ashburn Market Analysis & Buyer Demand

Now, one thing I will tell you guys, right, if you're opening your master bedroom or your primary bedroom window and you see a big data center, that's going to hurt in resale. And you've got to imagine there's going to be a lot of studies that are going to come out and say whether the effects of this are positive. So, who knows? It could go either way. But let's talk a little bit more about the market and if they really are driving people away, because Ashburn would be the main place I would check. So, Ashburn home sales are about even from the first half of last year. Prices are mostly in the high 600s to mid 800,000s. Buyers definitely have a lot more choices now, but well-priced homes still move fast. Inventory is up about 20%, so buyers have even more choices than they did a year ago. (8:23)

So even with all the data center growth, buyers are still showing up. A big reason is definitely going to be the lifestyle. Loudoun County Public Schools is highly rated and serves about 80,000 students. Then you've got One Loudoun with the area restaurants, Alamo Drafthouse, weekend events, and the W&OD trail connects Ashburn neighborhoods to breweries and coffee shops. You've got Dulles Airport that's just minutes away, which is a big plus for people who travel for work. Herndon is another good example. I've got a home under contract there for $2 million. The luxury demand there is just insanely strong. And the Silver Line has made Herndon a much easier commute than it used to be. Obviously, I actually just did a driving tour in Herndon, by the way, if you guys want to watch that. Buyers aren't avoiding the areas totally. They're paying for the schools, location, trails, and the day-to-day lifestyle. I mean, the big shift that I've seen in my 20 years of doing this is that more people care about the community now than anything, to tell you guys the truth. So, buyers still definitely want those communities. The key is knowing where they go to buy. So you get that upside without being too close to all the downside, right? Too close to the data center.

How to Smartly Buy Real Estate in NOVA

So, all right, guys. Data centers don't change what makes a neighborhood a good place to live. Good schools are good schools. People still want to buy there. You just need to know the area well enough to make a smart decision. If you're thinking about moving to the area, go ahead, scan the QR code. You're going to get my free relocation guide. My team and I can actually jump on a Zoom with you, walk you through the whole home-buying process, and how it all works. (9:52)