BREAKING: Developer to end appeals in Digital Gateway data center case, putting the massive project in deeper peril

Compass Datacenters, one of the primary developers behind the extensive PW Digital Gateway data center project, has decided to discontinue its appeal against a court ruling that had previously halted the multi-year development. This decision comes after the Virginia Court of Appeals upheld an August 2025 Circuit Court ruling which voided the project’s rezoning. The PW Digital Gateway, slated to become the largest data center campus globally, envisioned over 22 million square feet of data centers across 2,000 acres near Gainesville, Prince William County. The county's Board of County Supervisors had initially approved the rezonings in December 2023 after a marathon 27-hour meeting. However, the Circuit Court, under Judge Kimberly Irving, found the original rezonings void due to inadequate public notice before the county's December 2023 hearing and vote. Opposition groups, including the Coalition to Protect Prince William County and the American Battlefield Trust, filed lawsuits against the project, citing concerns over its proximity to Manassas National Battlefield Park and procedural errors. With Compass Datacenters pulling out, the focus now shifts to QTS, the other co-developer, as the deadline for its appeal looms. American Battlefield Trust President David Duncan has publicly called on QTS to abandon its legal challenge. Furthermore, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors recently voted to end its own appeal against the court rulings, having already spent over $1.7 million in taxpayer funds on the legal battle. Adding to the project's woes, Mary Ann Ghadban, a landowner who assembled property for the Gateway, is now suing QTS in federal court. Critics, like former resident Bill Wright, have celebrated these developments, viewing them as the project's demise.