Residents of rural Sanders Lane in western Prince William County are moving forward with an effort to assemble and sell their properties to a data center developer.
The effort is similar to what transpired on nearby Pageland Lane that led to the proposed and controversial PW Digital Gateway data center project.
An email obtained by InsideNoVa from the Catharpin Committee, a community organization working to organize the assemblage effort, informed neighbors on Monday the committee has garnered substantial support from residents, held several conferences with a potential buyer and is working toward options to purchase the land, according to the email. The identity of the potential buyer has not been disclosed.
Gainesville Supervisor Bob Weir told InsideNoVa an assemblage effort is indeed proceeding on Sanders Lane.
Hunter, who is also involved in the Catharpin Committee, has indicated in interviews with InsideNoVa the assemblage effort is advancing. He believes development in the county is inevitable and that tech hubs could be the solution to building a commercial tax base to ease the tax burden on residents.
Hunter, who in conversation has been coy about the initiative, declined to comment for this story.
“We knew development would come one day,” he previously said in an interview. “It’s just kind of natural for where we live.”
Data center developers have, in recent years, spent more than $1 million per acre to embark on projects in Northern Virginia.
The Sanders Lane assemblage is moving ahead despite the results of last week’s primary election wherein data center opponents won both the Democratic and Republican nominations for Prince William Board of County Supervisors chair.
The Catharpin Committee email sent Monday argued the surprise victory of Democrat Deshundra Jefferson against incumbent Chair Ann Wheeler, widely seen as a referendum on data center development, was an anomaly fueled by Republican opposition to Wheeler.