On Tuesday night, the Pittsylvania County Planning Commission saw a presentation for the first ever proposed data center in the county. The proposed data center would be located on 946 acres on Route 58 just east of Danville and would be an estimated investment between $4 billion and $5 billion. It would be the most expensive economic development investment in Pittsylvania County history.

The data center would be named the 58 East Data Campus and would bring up to 500 high paying jobs to the region. Projections also show that the data center would generate between $120 million and $200 million in tax revenue each year for the county. Virginia has become known as the data center capital of the world, according to Tom Gallagher with Anchorstone Advisors SOVA LLC.

“Inside data centers are a lot of technology and it’s a warehouse with a lot of computers and networking equipment used to store and send data. They provide large scale data storage for businesses, military, and governments. In addition, data centers provide secure reliable way to save and store data. Healthcare has been a huge user and is only increasing. Data centers also allow for fast reliable connectivity for everyday users,” said Gallagher.

The Planning Commission recommended that the board of supervisors approve the rezoning. However, the data center still has more hoops to jump through as a traffic study will need to be completed by VDOT and it will require a special use permit.