FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
GENERAL
Accokeek Center is a proposed technology campus located directly adjacent to Interstate 95 and Route 1 in Stafford County. It is being developed by Falmouth Tech, whose principals are established Northern Virginia developers with experience in land development, entitlements, and navigating complex planning environments. Falmouth Tech focuses on projects that integrate innovation, sustainability, and compatibility with surrounding communities through responsible design and long-term strategic planning.
This site is proximate to existing infrastructure and other industrial and technology campus uses making it an ideal location for a technology campus. Additionally, the site is located in the Central Stafford Targeted Development Area and Urban Services Area, both of which are areas designated for commercial growth and business/industrial land uses by Stafford County’s Comprehensive plan.
Stafford’s location near existing industrial infrastructure and established technology campuses made it an attractive location for Accokeek Center. The project’s site plan has been designed with community and long-term sustainability considerations in mind, including no use of public potable water, closed-loop cooling systems, enhanced buffering and tree preservation, noise mitigation measures, and transportation and infrastructure improvements. Accokeek Center will be located in the Central Stafford Targeted Development Area, which is an area designated for commercial growth and business/ industrial land uses by Stafford County’s Comprehensive plan.
83% of Stafford County’s tax base is comprised of residential properties. Accokeek Center’s $2.4 billion investment is expected to generate an estimated $13.5 million in annual property tax revenue once stabilized, helping expand the county’s commercial tax base and relieving the burden on residential properties. View the Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue report here.
Data centers are a unique and attractive use in that they generate significant tax revenue and job creation with minimal impact. Unlike housing developments that generate addition burden on schools or other retail and commercial uses that generates significant traffic, data center impacts are minimal.
A data center is a purpose-built facility that houses computer servers, storage drives, and networking gear at scale. A data center’s core purpose is to provide a secure, reliable, and controlled environment for storing, processing, and distributing data and computing workloads — essentially, it’s the physical backbone that makes modern digital life work like mobile phones, streaming services, email servers, etc.
The Accokeek Center site is 120.88 acres. Once built, the site will contain up to 590,000 square feet of data center building space across two buildings and other supporting infrastructure.
Of the 120.88 acres, over 50 acres (~40% of the site) is being committed to as tree preservation area, meaning it is a designated portion of the site where existing trees and plantings are legally protected from removal, damage, or disturbance.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
The Accokeek Center project is estimated to generate $13.5 million in annual property tax revenue once stabilized. This revenue can help support schools, public safety, transportation improvements, and other county priorities without creating new demands on these services.
The projected tax benefits are based on Stafford County’s current real property and business personal property tax rates and are supported by the ongoing replacement of technology equipment, with approximately 20% of equipment refreshed each year. This continuous investment helps maintain a strong taxable asset base and a reliable stream of revenue over time.
Accokeek Center is expected to create more than 64 direct permanent technical and operational positions, along with approximately 200 skilled-trade construction jobs during development (an expected 24 to 36 month construction schedule). This does not account for the additional job creation resulting from the various third-party support services required by the data centers once operational, including landscape, exterior maintenance, etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL
The project will be prohibited from using potable water (both ground water and County water) for industrial cooling purposes. While drainage issues are not expected to arise during the project’s construction and operations, Falmouth Tech has committed to repair any adjacent wells or drainfields that have failed as a direct result of the project.
Accokeek Center is committing to using generators that meet Tier 4 or greater EPA emissions standards. Tier 4 is the EPA’s strictest “clean air” rulebook for diesel generators. Additionally, the Stafford County zoning ordinance limits the use of generators to backup and emergency use only with the exception of testing or commissioning activities.
Stafford County limits operational data center noise to a maximum of 55 dB(A). Current projections demonstrate that Accokeek Center would remain below that limit. The proposed buildings will also be located at least 660 feet from the nearest residence, with screening and noise mitigation measures limiting noise pollution.
The project will not impact or disturb Accokeek Creek. There is significant buffer between the developable portion of the site and Accokeek Creek itself. Undisturbed buffers between the Accokeek Creek and the developable portion of the site range from a minimum of 290’ to over 1,000’. Additionally, the project is maintaining a 100’ Resource Protection Area (RPA) buffer, meaning no land disturbance will take place within 100’ of designated environmental resource areas. Stafford County’s stormwater management program is a state-mandated Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management (VESMP) program which requires that post-development runoff not exceed pre-development conditions — this applies to both water quantity and water quality.
The data center buildings are a minimum 660 feet from the nearest residence. The substation is 530 feet from the nearest residence. A 300 foot vegetative buffer consisting primarily of tree preservation is provided in all areas adjacent to residential properties.
View an illustrative plan here.