Contact Us
News

Tract Pitches 700-Acre Data Center Campus Near Richmond

Hyperscale data center developer Tract is planning another large-scale project near Richmond, Virginia, this time in Chesterfield County. 

Placeholder

The Denver-based developer has applied to rezone 740 acres in Chesterfield to allow the development of a campus with up to 2M SF of data center space across as many as 11 buildings, Richmond BizSense first reported. The assemblage of parcels near Colonial Heights is owned by an LLC tied to locally based general contractor Shoosmith Construction. 

While Tract’s proposed campus was first reported Monday, the developer filed plans with county officials in November. Those plans include four potential sites for electrical substations, with building heights limited to 100 feet. The company has indicated that data centers will cover less than 20% of the campus’s overall footprint.  

In order to move forward, the project must go before the Chesterfield Planning Commission and then be approved by the county’s board of supervisors. 

Founded in 2022 by former Cologix CEO Grant van Rooyen, Tract secures land, power and entitlements for data center campuses where other firms ultimately build the facilities.

The proposed Chesterfield project marks Tract’s second Richmond-area development in less than a year. In 2024, the company successfully rezoned 1,200 acres in nearby Hanover for data centers, paying $32.7M for the property in May. The Hanover campus is expected to be development-ready by 2027, according to Richmond BizSense. 

Beyond Virginia, Tract has developed a campus in Nevada and is pursuing projects in Texas, Arizona, Utah and Minnesota. 

Tract isn't the first firm to pursue a hyperscale data center campus in Chesterfield County, which has emerged as a key area of interest for developers within the booming Richmond data center market. 

Chirisa Technology Parks has operated a campus in the county since 2022. In September, a joint venture between Chirisa and American Real Estate Partners-owned PowerHouse acquired 104 acres adjacent to the campus, with plans for a 300-megawatt expansion with 600K SF of data center space across five buildings. The new data centers will be anchored by AI cloud startup CoreWeave

Next to Tract’s proposed Chesterfield campus is the site of the Chester Solar Technology Park, which is planned as a mix of data centers and solar energy. Jointly pitched by Torch Clean Energy and D. E. Shaw Renewable, the project secured zoning in 2019 but has yet to materialize. 

Related Topics: hyperscale, Richmond, Virginia, Tract