But it was canceled because of Tuesday's storm and probably will be rescheduled within two weeks, said Charlie Payne, the Fredericksburg lawyer for the Blaisdell Property Data Center project.
The project includes a proposed campus of three data center buildings, totaling 1.5 million square feet, on 181 acres, off Olde Forge Drive and down to the banks of the Rappahannock River.
Annual tax revenues for Stafford County would be $12.3 million during the first year of operations in 2029, according to the project application. Then, annual revenues are projected to rise to $35.9 million in 2031 before leveling out at $32 million in 2037.
The property is off U.S. 17 and east of Interstate 95, primarily on undeveloped woodland between Rappahannock Landing and Ingleside Drive. Ingleside is adjacent to Belmont, the 19th-century estate and studio of prominent artist Gari Melchers.
One of the docents at the studio posted on the Nextdoor app, encouraging people to express concerns to the Stafford Board of Supervisors.
The docent wrote: "Data centers are LOUD! People who live near one Northern Virginia center have complained that the mechanical whir of the fleet of industrial fans needed to cool the sensitive computer equipment inside can sound like a leaf blower that never turns off."
Because the application was filed with Stafford County last month, no dates have been set for when the matter will come before the Planning Commission, then the Board of Supervisors for final approval. At both levels, residents will be able to offer comments during public hearings.
The project requires a conditional use permit, a change to the Comprehensive Plan and rezoning of the acreage from urban commercial and agricultural to heavy industrial. A brief summary is provided on the website for the county's planning and zoning department at hello.stafford.va.us/newapps2.
Payne provided additional information about the proposed campus, which involves 11 contiguous properties off Blaisdell Lane. The owner is TC Blaisdell of Delaware, part of the real-estate development firm, Trammell Crow Company.
At buildout, the campus would generate 159 operational jobs and 180 vehicle trips during morning and evening peaks, according to a study. Consultants hired by the project owner met in October with officials from the Virginia Department of Transportation and Stafford County to analyze the impact on six nearby intersections.
The group anticipated the project would be fully constructed and operational by 2029.
Existing transmission lines already extend through the property, and the data center buildings would be developed on about 60 acres, Payne said.
The remaining land would be designated as open space or preserved areas, including the City of Fredericksburg's easement to the Rappahannock and a connection to current trails along the river. Payne said plans also call for preserving cultural resources such as the area known as Hunter's Iron Works.
None of the buildings remain, but the Iron Works, and the Rappahannock Forge that was there, supplied muskets, swords and other armaments to the Continental army and navy during the Revolutionary War, according to the Historical Markers Database.
The Stafford Iron Works was "one of the largest single industries in the New World, and from about 1775 to 1781, it was the largest iron works in the colonies," according to the Central Rappahannock Regional Library website at librarypoint.org/blogs/post/hunters-iron-works. "At one time, in fact, the government owed Mr. (James) Hunter some $930,000 for items made at his foundry."
© 2025 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
