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## Praetorian’s Virginia Megasite Could Accommodate Data Center Development

Chesapeake officials say existing rules allow data centers, while power discussions with Dominion have focused on prospective industrial users.

Aerial map of the proposed megasite in Chesapeake.Photo via City of Chesapeake

Praetorian Fund’s planned acquisition of a roughly 4,000-acre industrial site in Chesapeake, Virginia, could include data center development, although neither the developer nor the city has identified a specific data center project or customer for the property.

Data centers are among the uses permitted under Coastal Virginia Commerce Park’s existing [2022 development guidelines](https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/DocumentCenter/View/8776/pln-pudc-2022-001_staff_report_update), according to Stephen Wright, Chesapeake’s economic development director. The city has spent years assessing whether prospective industrial users could secure the necessary electricity and infrastructure.

But elected officials have not been briefed on a specific Praetorian project. Vice Mayor S.Z. “Debbie” Ritter stated that she had not been informed of an intended use for the property or a prospective user’s electric load. She also noted that there had been no discussions with Dominion Energy about a new substation or transmission serving the site.

The result is a property with a regulatory path for data center development and a history of utility planning for large industrial users, but without a publicly identified data center customer or power commitment.

## Data Centers Are Allowed

The Coastal Virginia Commerce Park was conceived as a large industrial development, with advanced manufacturing among the uses Chesapeake sought to attract.

The property’s development guidelines identify data centers as an allowable use, Wright said. The city has provided those same guidelines to companies that have expressed interest in the site.

The distinction is significant as Chesapeake works to tighten its broader rules for data centers.

City Council initiated a zoning amendment for data centers in January. The city’s official case record says the comprehensive plan calls for additional information for developments with large utility needs and appropriate infrastructure siting. The [proposed zoning changes](https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/DocumentCenter/View/32418/PLN-TXT-2026-001---Data-Centers-Info-Pkg-pdf) would make data centers conditional uses in specified industrial districts and the Fentress Airfield Overlay District.

A separate [draft data center policy released in June](https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/DocumentCenter/View/32471/Draft-Data-Center-Policy-6172026-PDF?bidId=) calls for a detailed review of power, water, wastewater, cooling, noise, and other infrastructure impacts. It identifies locations within 0.5 miles of existing transmission corridors or other suitable power sources as preferred sites, particularly in rural areas, to reduce the need for new high-voltage transmission lines and substations.

City Council is scheduled to consider the zoning changes on August 18.

But those citywide rules are being developed against the backdrop of an [existing PUD](https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/666/Planned-Unit-Developments-PUDs) at the commerce park that already permits data centers.

## Power Planning Predates Praetorian

Chesapeake’s discussions with Dominion about power at the site also predate Praetorian’s involvement.

Wright said the city began seriously working on the project around 2021, when it was a finalist for an automotive manufacturing facility and an electric-vehicle battery manufacturing project.

After losing those competitions, Chesapeake continued developing the site and began speculative discussions with Dominion, Columbia Gas and the city’s own utility department about whether the necessary infrastructure could reach the property.

The city has since taken prospective customers’ stated power requirements to Dominion to determine whether the utility could serve them.

“We have received inquiries from different companies that have indicated a particular load,” Wright said. “We reached out to Dominion and said, ‘Hey, if we put them on the site, could you deliver the load?’”

Some prospective loads could exceed the site's current capacity and require additional infrastructure, Wright said.

“The load requirements, conceptually or potentially will have exceeded what’s available today,” he said. “So there would need to be an investment in infrastructure to get the necessary power there.”

The prospective users Wright discussed have primarily been manufacturing companies, and their load requirements have not been significant.

Asked whether anyone had requested 100 MW or more, Wright responded: “I don’t think so.”

That does not establish the amount of power Praetorian or a future customer might require. It does establish that Chesapeake is not identifying a 100 /MW-plus customer commitment for the property.

Neil Osnato, founder of Persistence Analytics Group, said the distinction between site infrastructure and customer-specific power planning is important.

“The most important distinction is between designing a megasite capable of receiving extraordinary load and having an executable large-load customer already committed to it,” Osnato said.

The site’s infrastructure history is consistent with preparation for major industrial development, Osnato said, but customer-specific utility planning would provide stronger evidence of an actual project.

## The City Once Sought The Property

Chesapeake’s interest in Coastal Virginia Commerce Park predates Praetorian by years.

Ritter said the city once pursued an acquisition of the property itself, hoping to bring the site under municipal control.

Wright confirmed that the city had the property under contract and said the contemplated purchase depended on participation from the Commonwealth that never materialized.

Ritter said the cost of acquiring the property and bringing necessary infrastructure to the site could have exceeded $150 million. The city was unwilling to obligate residents to that expense without significant state participation.

The city ultimately abandoned the effort.

That history matters because the property's infrastructure strategy did not originate with Praetorian. Chesapeake had been preparing the site for major industrial development for years before the current transaction.

## A 4,000-Acre Opportunity

Coastal Virginia Commerce Park encompasses roughly 4,000 acres along US Route 17 near the North Carolina border. Around 1,420 acres have already been rezoned under the site’s planned-unit-development framework, according to Wright.

The scale gives Praetorian room to accommodate multiple industrial projects rather than a single facility.

The city originally envisioned the site primarily for advanced manufacturing, including automotive, semiconductor, and other large-scale manufacturing projects. That was before the explosive growth of data center demand in Virginia and elsewhere.

Chesapeake’s earlier site-development work included planning for major water and wastewater infrastructure and evaluating the site’s ability to accommodate large industrial users.

The city’s proposed data center policy now explicitly addresses the infrastructure characteristics that would matter to a large computing facility.

The policy calls for applicants to identify their cooling systems and associated water demand and encourages closed-loop cooling, water recycling and other conservation measures. It also contemplates utility and wastewater infrastructure capable of handling data center operations.

Those requirements could become significant if a large computing project ultimately moves forward at the commerce park.

For now, however, the infrastructure planning does not indicate a specific data center.

The city has been preparing the site for major industrial users for years, and Wright’s account indicates that discussions with Dominion about power have involved multiple prospective users and varying load requirements.

## Opposition Remains

The property has faced organized opposition since Chesapeake began pursuing development of the property as a megasite.

[Save the Dismal](https://www.facebook.com/SavetheDismal/) continues to oppose industrial development there, according to Jeff Staples, who has opposed the project since 2015.

“We still oppose the construction of a megasite or anything industrial there,” Staples said.

Staples said the group was surprised by Praetorian’s announcement and has not recently discussed the project with Chesapeake, Praetorian or Dominion.

He said data centers were not a concern when the group initially opposed the project.

“Data centers were never a concern until recently,” he said.

Staples also raised concerns about the cost of extending public services to the property and the potential need for additional infrastructure, including natural gas, to reach the site.

## Praetorian Keeps Plans Private

Praetorian has yet to publicly disclose a tenant or specific project for the property.

The city knew that Praetorian had been discussing the property with its owner before the acquisition announcement, but Wright said the city had not discussed potential uses with Praetorian.

Chesapeake has also limited information it can disclose about Praetorian’s plans.

Wright said the city has a nondisclosure agreement with the company.

Data Center Knowledge has contacted Praetorian and Dominion for additional information about the property’s development plans and power requirements.

For now, the public record establishes three things: the site is entitled for data centers under its existing development guidelines; Chesapeake has spent years evaluating utility service for prospective large industrial users; and Praetorian has not disclosed whether a data center is among the projects it intends to develop.

That leaves data centers firmly within the range of what could be developed at Coastal Virginia Commerce Park, without establishing that one is coming.
