Sale of County-Owned Land at 3721 Stonecroft Boulevard

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has approved a purchase and sale agreement to sell about 41.7 acres of the 128-acre Stonecroft property to a private data center developer for $166.8 million. The property is currently used for police training facilities not optimally located on the 128-acres.  By reconfiguring the site layout, land is freed up for private development in exchange for funding new, modern police training facilities on the County-retained portion of the property while supporting the county’s long-term economic sustainability. The site is located in an established industrial area near Dulles Airport and surrounded by office parks and other data centers.

The property is part of the Fairfax County Police Department’s training facility. The site currently includes areas used for firearms training, K-9 training and driver training.

Associated Documents

Timeline for Proposed Land Sale and Facility Upgrades

•    Contingency Period: Spring 2026 – Spring 2027
•    Closing: Spring 2027
•    Design & Permitting: Spring 2026 – Summer 2028
•    Construction of New Facilities: Summer 2028 – Spring 2031 

Addressing Public Safety Needs and Economic Sustainability

The sale is intended to address the needs of public safety personnel and long-term economic sustainability. Fairfax County relies heavily on residential real estate taxes, which make up more than 75% of the county’s assessment base. Selling a portion of the Stonecroft property will generate new tax revenue, estimated to exceed $20 million in the first year after development. Proceeds of the sale will help fund modern police training facilities collocated with a new Criminal Justice Academy, which is funded by the county's Capital Improvement Program. By consolidating and upgrading training operations, the county can improve conditions for law enforcement personnel while diversifying revenue sources.

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The Board of Supervisors held a public hearing to consider approval of the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) on March 17. The Board voted to enter the PSA which determined whether the county would sell the land. Approval of the PSA does not approve data center use.   

The property is located in an industrial zone. No rezoning or Comprehensive Plan amendment is anticipated at this time. A Special Exception may be required for increased building height or floor area, which would involve a separate public hearing and a separate Board vote. All development would undergo administrative site plan and building permit review. 

Fairfax County has updated zoning regulations to impose additional requirements on data centers, including design, landscaping standards, and pre-and post-construction noise studies. The county continues to manage increasing energy demand responsibly and has reduced electricity use by approximately 10% since 2015. 

While the county does not set electricity rates, the Virginia State Corporation Commission has authority to establish electricity rate classes for large-scale energy users. The Commission has approved new pricing structures, effective in 2027, intended to address the growing infrastructure demands associated with large energy users like data centers and limit the extent to which those costs are passed on to residential customers. Separately, the Virginia General Assembly is considering additional legislation related to large-scale energy demand and utility rates. Learn more about what state regulators have done: Virginia SCC - SCC Issues Order on DEV Biennial Review 2025  

Building on the county’s efforts to regulate the expansion of data center construction, the Board of Supervisors approved a Zoning Ordinance amendment for electrical substations in December of 2025. The new standards ensure that as utility infrastructure expands to support the digital economy, neighboring communities are protected from noise, visual impact and encroachment.

Upon closing of sale, Police operations will transition out of the driver training track into temporary leased space.  Portions of the Stonecroft site, including firearms training areas, may remain in use until construction of the new replacement facilities begin. A new Criminal Justice Academy is planned for the Stonecroft Boulevard site, collocated with the firearms, K9 and Emergency Vehicle Operations Course training operations.  

Proceeds from the land sale will help fund modern, efficient police training facilities, reducing long-term maintenance costs and improving training conditions. 
The anticipated cost for the design and construction of the new training campus is approximately $248 million, including the new Criminal Justice Academy which is separately funded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Proceeds of the sale would fund modern police training facilities including a new emergency vehicle operations driving track, firearms training center, firing ranges, support buildings, and improved site infrastructure to support the new campus. A new Criminal Justice Academy, which is funded by Fairfax County's Capital Improvement Program, would also be collocated at the site. Modern infrastructure made possible by the proceeds of a sale, as well as consolidation of several police training programs to one site would benefit the quality of training provided to new police recruits and in-service personnel.

The Board of Supervisors approved entering into the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) at a March 17 public hearing. The PSA vote only determined whether the county will sell the land; approval of the PSA does not approve data center use. The PSA includes a contingency period of up to one year (with possible extensions totaling 180 days) to allow both the developer and the county to pursue required approvals for their respective sites. If those approvals are not obtained, the PSA may be terminated, in which case the sale will not move forward. 

The county was approached with an unsolicited offer for the sale of county-owned real estate. The county’s requirement is to ensure it receives at least fair market value. The county then reached out to other businesses which might be interested and received competing offers. The county also received a third-party appraisal confirming the accepted offer exceeded Fair Market Value. 

The County did not receive any payments from the developer prior to the Board of Supervisor’s authorization and subsequent execution of the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) on March 25, 2026.  The letter of intent required the developer to deposit an initial deposit of $50,000 into escrow to be released to the County only upon execution of the PSA.

The purchase price is due at closing, which is anticipated to occur in April 2027 if no extensions are requested. Prior to closing, earnest money deposits will be made by the purchaser to the escrow agent pursuant to the terms of the PSA.

The sale price exceeds a third-party appraisal valuation which was performed for the county.  

The revenue from the sale is not restricted. As the sale will require relocation of existing police training facilities, proceeds from the sale will be used to fund new modern, efficient facilities including the driver training track and firearms training. In addition, the new Criminal Justice Academy is planned to be located on the site, which is funded by the Capital Improvement Plan. 

The Police Department will continue to use portions of the Stonecroft site until construction of new county facilities begin. The Police Department plans to seek agreements with neighboring jurisdictions to use temporary facilities during construction. Police have confirmed that training operations will not be materially interrupted and that the benefits from the new facilities outweigh the inconvenience of the limited temporary use of other facilities.

Currently, residents in Virginia help pay for the power lines and equipment that data centers need through their monthly electricity bill. A new bill (SB 253) passed by the General Assembly and expected to be signed into law by Governor Abigail Spanberger, changes this by creating a special category just for data centers. It requires the Data Centers pay for their own power equipment instead of sharing that cost with regular families. If the new law is passed, the average family could see their monthly bill go down. This new law may be beneficial to Virginia residents as family bills are expected to climb significantly over the next several years to keep up with data center growth.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

The replacement county training facilities will not require a new substation. The developer may require a substation, which would be coordinated with Dominion Energy and subject to county and state regulations pertaining to electrical substations. 

It has been hard to know the exact amount because water use was kept private in the past. A new bill (SB 553) passed by the General Assembly and expected to be signed into law by Governor Abigail Spanberger, will require water companies to report the total amount of water used by the data center industry every month.   

Fairfax County has updated zoning regulations to impose additional requirements on data centers, including design, landscaping standards, and pre- and post-construction noise studies. New setback and buffering standards for electrical substations also ensure neighboring communities are protected from noise.

The site is located in an established industrial corridor. The developer has indicated the proposed data center would generally conform to existing industrial zoning.  If the developer requests a special exception as permitted by the ordinance, such as for an increase in height, the request will go through the full review and public hearing process.

Distance to existing residences and schools:
Based on current information and property line measurements, the nearest existing residential properties are approximately 2,700 to 2,800 feet from the site, and the nearest school is approximately 1.3 miles away. These distances are estimates and may change as site planning advances.  

Zoning requirements:
The Zoning Ordinance in Fairfax County requires data center buildings to be located at least 200 feet from the lot line of a residential district or property. Ground equipment, such as backup generators, must be located at least 300 feet from residential property or be separated from it by the data center building. While the specific location of any future data center on the site has not been determined, based on the location of the property, the distance to any residential property will well exceed the Zoning Ordinance requirement.

As of early 2026, Fairfax County has 20 data centers in its inventory, 14 of which are fully operational and 6 that are currently under construction. These facilities provide a substantial and growing source of revenue for the County, contributing approximately $72.6 million annually to the General Fund.
This contribution comes from two primary sources:

  • Real Estate Taxes ($29 Million): Based on a total assessed land and building value of approximately $2.67 billion.
  • Business Personal Property Taxes ($43.6 Million): Taxes collected on the high-value data center equipment housed within these facilities.

On average, each data center contributes roughly $3.63 million per year to County services. Importantly, data centers are considered "high-yield" land uses; they generate significant tax revenue while requiring minimal County services, such as schools or public safety, compared to residential or traditional commercial developments.

 Data centers do pay more in taxes than they cost to support. A 2024 study by Mangum Economics for the Northern Virginia Technology Council showed that in nearby Loudoun County, data centers pay about $26 in taxes for every $1 they cost the county in public services. In Prince William County, they pay $13 for every $1 in services according to the same report. While Fairfax County has not calculated that exact ratio for itself yet, data centers do generate millions of dollars in tax revenue while placing very low demands on public services like schools, police, and fire departments. 

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