Roxbury Technology Park is a proposed data center campus being developed by Diode Ventures, a subsidiary of Black and Veatch, a US-based engineering, procurement, and construction company. The future campus will be located on five contiguous parcels of private land, comprising approximately 515 acres, in Charles City County, VA.
Diode Ventures is an established data center developer that has completed the land development process for nearly 2,000 acres of hyperscale data center projects across the U.S. Our mission is to be a trusted development partner in all the communities where we work. Diode is a wholly owned subsidiary of Black & Veatch, an over 100-year-old engineering, procurement and construction company that is 100% employee owned.
We create transformative economic opportunities centered around ensuring community voices are heard, incorporated and preserved. Once each project is sold to a technology firm, Diode continues to stay involved in the project to ensure adherence to zoning regulations, conditional approvals and development agreements.
Data centers store, manage, and process the vast quantities of data and information we have come to rely on in a connected world. When you swipe your credit card at a gas station, need an ambulance dispatched to an accident, send a prescription to the pharmacy, or post pictures from your latest family vacation to social media, it’s a data center that is responsible for processing, sending, and receiving all this information. Data centers are essential to many people’s modern lives, playing a critical role in ensuring the security, reliability, and availability of digital information and services.
Data center operators often take great care to design these facilities to blend in with their surroundings. Typically, data centers are two stories or less and have an unassuming exterior similar to a typical office or warehouse building with minimal windows. This is particularly true for large data center campuses, which are often master-planned and designed to be as unobtrusive as possible. To achieve this, natural buffers such as trees, shrubs, and berms are used to shield the data center from the public eye and reduce the visual impact of the facility. The goal is to create a facility that is both functional and efficient, while also being aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible.
Diode has submitted a conditional rezoning application for the project parcels to Light Industrial (M-1). The Planning Commission will review the proposal and allow for public comment in order to make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. If approved, Diode will work with local utilities and permitting agencies before proceeding with site plan approval and building permits.
Tax Revenue: The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) estimates that for a $1 billion dollar investment, a project could generate $258 million in tax revenue over 20 years. Because of this, data centers are highly sought-after economic development projects primarily due to the significant capital investment in advanced servers and technology, as well as the resultant increase in property valuations for the site. These factors contribute to substantial local tax revenue, which can have a transformative impact on a county’s fiscal capacity and can provide countless new opportunities through increased funding available to schools, for social programs, infrastructure improvements and other local priorities.
Local Character Retention: Data centers are unique development opportunities because they create very little traffic, have low job density, and do not put a strain on local and municipal services such as EMS, schools, public safety, and fire departments. This allows communities to receive the significant economic and infrastructure benefits of data center development while maintaining the rural character of the county.
Infrastructure Improvements: The power needs of a data center often require upgrades to the local utility infrastructure at the expense of the developer and result in benefits for the surrounding community, such as a more resilient electrical grid that is better equipped to handle power outages and other disruptions.
Community Programs: All the major data center operators have commitments to develop the communities where they work. Some of those examples include Meta partnering with Appalachian Power Company and Gigabeam to bring fiber internet to over 13,000 people in West Virginia. Google has also announced in 2024 that it would provide free Wi-Fi at five locations with plans for more in Purcellville, VA.
Job Creation: During peak construction the project is expected to generate between 800-1,200 construction jobs, including many skilled labor jobs such as electricians, plumbers, and HVAC professionals. While the selection of these professionals is determined at a later stage, there is a strong preference for choosing local professionals who have extensive experience in the community. Once operational, it is estimated that the project will create between 50-100 full-time permanent jobs including engineers, maintenance professionals, security professionals and more. This number does not account for indirect and induced economic contributions from those construction and operations jobs.
Job Training and Workforce Development: Most operators have job training programs and initiatives, like Google’s STAR program which prepares residents for a trade or construction career in their home community. Diode will continue to partner with the community to find ways to match local county residents with the skills needed to fill the permanent data center jobs at the campus.
How much water is used by data centers in Virginia?
According to the 2024 JLARC Report on Data Centers, more than 80% of data centers in Virginia use no more than a large office building and less than 5% of withdrawal permits in Virginia are for data centers.
How will this affect the well water in Charles City County?
Taking into account community concern over water system impacts in Charles City County, Diode has proffered in our application that groundwater will not be used for cooling purposes and only a minimal amount may be used for domestic and non-potable purposes, such as restrooms and kitchens. This limited use of groundwater is expected to have negligible impacts on the county’s aquifer. The water solution for the project to support data center cooling activities has yet to be determined. Two preliminary, but viable, options have been identified as: 1) utilizing surface water from a neighboring locality or 2) pulling water from the James River (or another nearby river). Once conditional rezoning has been accomplished, Diode will continue to evaluate these water options including any engineering, modeling, and permitting efforts. Diode is committed to following all state and local regulations, including VDEQ and the County, regarding water use and disposal.
Who will pay for the upgrades?
Any site-specific upgrades that the project would require will be paid solely by the project. This could benefit the community near the project by creating a more reliable transmission network surrounding the project site.
What can neighbors expect during construction and long-term?
Roxbury Technology Park is in the early stages of development. The current focus is on rezoning the property to the Light Industrial (M-1) classification and complying with setback requirements and performance standards for data centers per the applicable Charles City County code. If approved, the future construction of the project will utilize best management practices for monitoring and managing construction traffic that would be applicable to a typical industrial project of similar nature and size. These practices would likely include developing a comprehensive traffic management plan, using appropriate signage and flaggers, implementing traffic calming measures, coordinating with local authorities, scheduling deliveries during off-peak hours, and communicating with stakeholders about potential disruptions. In addition, Diode has included limiting hours of construction and further limited hours on Sunday.
In the long term, the project aims to minimize disruption to its neighbors and to respect the rural heritage of Charles City County during operation. At Diode, we are committed to giving back to the communities where we operate, and we work to foster local prosperity through collaboration and engagement with residents, officials, agencies, and nonprofits. Our projects prioritize local workforce development and education, and we are dedicated to forming a strong community partnership with Charles City County. We take our responsibility to the community seriously and are always looking for ways to make a positive impact.
How will you mitigate the light and noise from the facility?
According to the 2024 JLARC study on data centers, a large majority of data centers do not cause noise complaints. This is because of the improvements in design and development of data centers that have occurred over the last several years. Though HVAC and generation equipment can create noise, Diode intends to perform any necessary acoustical studies and incorporate feedback and mitigation measures like sound attenuating walls, generator enclosures, and mufflers in the final site plan to create a minimally invasive to neighbors of the project.
The final design will incorporate light mitigation measures like directional exterior LED lighting that is dark sky compatible and can be adjusted for color and light level. Further, lighting will be on motion detectors and timers to minimize use.
Overall, Diode is committed to designing a facility that is sensitive to the environment and that considers the needs of the nearby county residents.
What will the visual impact be on surrounding residents?
A significant portion of the project is bounded by streams and wetlands and existing dense tree lines creating a natural separation from any developable area and nearby neighbors. We will preserve as many of the existing tree lines as possible to create a physical boundary between the data center building and its residential neighbor.
How will the data center impact traffic during operation?
While the project is in the early stages of development, Diode is actively working with a local traffic engineer and VDOT to study traffic impact, including requirements and recommendations for safe conditions. Once the data center is operational there will be minimal traffic impacts as data centers operate with a small staff and are not open to the public. Our goal is to create the safest and most efficient traffic patterns around our project for the people of Charles City County.
The current plan is to have the primary access point and most traffic to be limited to CC Road, with the project supporting a shared use path along the frontage of CC Road and off-site improvements like turn lanes as well as resurfacing and restriping of CC Road from the entrance point to Roxbury Road. In addition, Diode has included a condition of approval that Charbelee Drive will not be used as any access point.
What kind of emissions to data centers create?
According to the JLARC, Data Centers in Virginia – Report to the Governor and General Assembly of Virginia; December 9, 2024, data centers emit very little air pollution from their backup generators. “In Northern Virginia, they make up less than 4 percent of regional emissions of nitrogen oxides and 0.1 percent or less of carbon monoxide and particulate matter emissions.”
Why Charles City County and this site?
Charles City County is an ideal location for a data center, thanks to its available land, overhead transmission lines, proximity to fiber networks, available workforce, and support of economic development in targeted areas as described in the 2014 Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
How does this project fit into Charles City County’s Comprehensive Plan?
Diode is committed to working with the Board of Supervisors, county officials and the citizens of Charles City to maximize the benefits of data center development within the county. Part of that commitment is understanding the needs and priorities of the area, such as those communicated within the county’s Comprehensive Plan. Below are the specific ways the project aligns with this plan:
This website page will be regularly updated, but for more information, please use our Contact page or email RoxburyTechnologyPark@DiodeVentures.com.
