This article was republished with permission from 海角精品黑料鈥檚 news partner . Sign up for
One of the developers behind the PW Digital Gateway data center project will drop its appeal of a court ruling that halted the years-running development.
Multiple sources told InsideNoVa Tuesday night Compass Datacenters will not formally contest a聽聽that upheld an August 2025 Circuit Court decision voiding the project鈥檚 rezoning.
At full buildout, the Digital Gateway near Gainesville would be the largest data center campus in the world. It would include over 22 million square feet of data centers spread out across 2,000 acres along Pageland Lane. The project would include 37 data centers, roughly the size of 144 Walmart supercenters.
Compass Datacenters has been spearheading the Digital Gateway along with QTS. It was not immediately clear whether QTS will continue the court fight to salvage the project.
In August, Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving ruled the initial rezonings were void due to improper public notice ahead of the county’s December 2023 hearing and eventual vote on the matter.
There were two primary lawsuits challenging the project, one involving the Oak Valley Homeowners Association and another from the American Battlefield Trust, which was involved given the proposed Digital Gateway would be built out adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park.
The two cases were heard together on appeal, and the state Court of Appeals upheld the August ruling on March 31.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted earlier this month to end the county鈥檚 appeal of judges鈥� rulings 鈥� this after spending over $1.7 million in taxpayer funds siding with the developers.
To secure property for Digital Gateway, the developers entered into sale agreements with nearly 100 local residents. One of them, Mary Ann Ghadban 鈥� a Pageland Lane landowner who rallied many of her neighbors to help create the land assemblage 鈥撀犅爄n federal court.
Bill Wright, a former Prince William resident and outspoken Gateway critic who has documented the saga since its early days through a community newsletter, celebrated the news Wednesday morning.
鈥淭he Prince William Digital Gateway, which was rapidly melting down, has now vaporized into a putrid puff of smoke,鈥� Wright wrote in his email. 鈥淎s corks pop all over western Prince William County, a bitter brew is being poured on Pageland Lane.聽 Hundreds of landowners will be asking how promise turned into pratfall and who led them up this stinky creek.鈥�
