A $750 million investment agreement for industrial development and a potential data center at New River Valley Commerce Park is off, at least for now, after a company did not finalize the contract.
The 475-acre site in Pulaski County was scheduled to exchange ownership on Oct. 5, between multi-government representative Virginia’s First Regional Industrial Facility Authority and developer New River Valley LLC, according to the proposed agreement.
“Right now as it stands, the contract has expired with the company,” said Michael Solomon, the authority’s executive director. “They had until the 5th to close, and they didn’t.”
Solomon said Friday he did not know the reason or reasons for the company’s decision.
The initial amount the developer was set to pay was approximately $1.6 million, with $580,000 already in escrow as a deposit. The remaining amount was due at closing, according to Solomon. The authority is likely to get the money that remains in escrow based on the contract, he said.
Over 10 years, the developer would have been required to invest at least $750 million in industrial projects such as manufacturing and a data center. No end user for a data center development had been identified, Solomon said.
The authority, which owns and manages the commerce park, was created in 1998 through a partnership between 11 member governments — the counties of Bland, Craig, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski, and Roanoke, the cities of Radford and Roanoke, and the towns of Dublin, Pearisburg and Pulaski.
In the efforts to boost economic activity, each member would receive proportional tax revenue from industry development at the site based on the amount of previous investment — host Pulaski County would receive the most.
As Cardinal News previously reported, the county was expected to receive $15 million in 2025 from the state’s general funds, appropriated by the General Assembly to go toward utility infrastructure development at the park. That figure was later reduced to $7.5 million, which remains untouched and has carried over into this year’s budget, Solomon said.
No new developer has been identified, Solomon said, and the authority continues to assess what other options are available.
Cardinal News reached out to New River Valley LLC for comment and did not receive a response last week.
The authority will hold a public meeting to discuss data centers in general at the New River Valley Fairgrounds at 5581 Fair Grounds Circle in Dublin from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Christopher Lloyd, senior vice president and director for infrastructure and economic development at McGuireWoods Consulting, is scheduled to speak at the forum.
Live questions will not be taken during the meeting and should be presubmitted to executivedirector@nrvcommerpark.org, according to the online event page.
