QTS Ends Prince William County Data Center Push and Drops Supreme Court Appeal

Blackstone’s QTS has ended its pursuit of the Digital Gateway data center project in Prince William County, closing the door on a development that could have become one of the largest data center clusters in the world. According to Bisnow National, the company also withdrew its petitions to the Virginia Supreme Court after deciding not to continue the legal fight over the project’s rezoning approvals.

In an emailed statement to Bisnow on Friday, QTS said: “After careful consideration, QTS has made the decision to terminate the Digital Gateway project and withdraw its associated filings.” The company added that it will move forward with “a responsible and orderly termination of project activities.”

Key Details

QTS, Blackstone’s data center arm, had been pursuing the PW Digital Gateway project in Prince William County. The proposal involved a 2,100-acre rezoning effort that was necessary for the development to proceed.

On Thursday, QTS notified the Virginia Supreme Court that it was withdrawing its petitions to appeal a lower court decision that had voided the rezoning approvals tied to the project. Bloomberg, which first reported the news, said QTS executives determined the litigation was not worth continuing.

The legal battle had already begun to unravel before QTS made its latest move. In April, the Board of County Supervisors dropped its legal defense of the rezoning effort after the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled against the approvals. Compass Datacenters, the other developer involved in the project, also abandoned the fight. QTS had remained the lone party pressing the case to the state’s highest court until this week’s filing.

QTS said the project would have delivered “tens of billions of dollars in capital investment, substantial annual local tax revenues to support public services, and thousands of long-term jobs.” With the project now terminated, those claims remain part of the company’s explanation for what it believed the development could have brought to the area.

The decision marks a win for landowners, advocacy groups and other opponents who had been pushing back against the proposal.

Why It Matters

For commercial real estate professionals, the outcome underscores how entitlement and rezoning disputes can determine the fate of even very large development plans. It also highlights the risk that prolonged litigation can reshape project strategy, particularly when local governments and development partners step back from defending approvals.

The Digital Gateway effort had drawn attention because of its scale and because of the broader importance of data center development to land use debates. QTS’ withdrawal brings a definitive end to one of the region’s most closely watched data center land-use fights.