Pittsylvania County’s Berry Hill megasite will eventually have 21 data center buildings, built in phases over 15 years, according to permits filed by Stack Infrastructure.
The project, an AI data center campus, “represents the largest private single-investment commitment” on record with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, according to permit information. When formally approved, the project will also be the largest economic development deal in Southside Virginia’s history. It’s expected to create up to $100 billion in investment and more than 2,500 jobs with salaries of more than $80,000 over a 20-year period.
At full build-out, the campus — called Project Crossroads — will require about 3,000 megawatts of capacity power, mostly generated on-site, said the permit application.
The application requests construction and environmental permitting from multiple agencies at once. It lays out project details, like power infrastructure, wetlands impact mitigation and community engagement for Project Crossroads.
The project was first made public in March through a land sale between data center developer Stack Infrastructure and the Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Facility Authority. Many of the details in the joint permit application were not available until now.
Through the land sale and a local performance agreement, Stack claimed nearly 3,000 acres at the 3,528-acre megasite in Pittsylvania.
According to the joint permit application, 1,715 acres of that land are developable. The 21-building data center campus, along with its on-site power and other infrastructure, would encompass those 1,715 acres, with a total of 1,733 acres disturbed during construction.
The application also included expected property tax revenue for Pittsylvania County: up to $48 million per year at full buildout. That’s about $16.5 million in taxes per year on the first 1,000 acres and an additional $16,250 per acre for every developed acre after that. The county will also receive tax revenue on data center equipment at a rate of $1.62 per $100 of assessed value.
This would almost certainly make the project the county’s largest taxpayer. The biggest chunk — about 42% — of the county’s revenue for fiscal year 2027 comes from real estate taxes.
The project is not receiving any local discretionary monetary incentives.
Though no formal announcement about the project has been made, Project Crossroads is expected to be the second tenant at the megasite, after lithium-ion battery separator manufacturer Microporous announced that it would build a facility on about 200 acres in 2024.
The Berry Hill megasite was purchased jointly by Danville and Pittsylvania in 2008. Since then, over $217 million in public and private funds have been invested in grading, infrastructure and other preparations to ready the site for development. The megasite is now “shovel-ready,” meaning it has all the resources necessary for development.
In January, the planning commission and board of supervisors in Pittsylvania County unanimously approved a fast-tracked zoning change to allow “special heavy industrial” developments, including data centers and power generation, at the megasite.
On-site power generation
Project Crossroads is expected to use on-site power generation for its massive energy needs, according to the application.
A large part of the energy will likely be supplied by natural gas, via existing transmission pipelines to the megasite. Stack also plans to build a 150-megawatt substation at the megasite, which is expected to be operational by 2028, the application says.
“The utilization of onsite power generation will reduce constraints on existing grid infrastructure, while providing reliability for operations,” the joint permit application says. “The project will also require backup and emergency power capabilities to maintain operational continuity during utility interruptions.”
Specifics on the type, capacity and configuration of these systems will be determined later, based on requirements of future tenants, but they may include diesel generators, natural gas-fired generators, battery energy storage systems or a combination of these.
The March performance agreement includes a condition on power use. It says that there will be a minimum load capacity of 299 megawatts for the project, provided by Appalachian Power by the end of 2028. There will be no restrictions on a load capacity higher than 299 megawatts, it says.
The total projected capacity for on-site power at Project Crossroads is 3,000 megawatts. By comparison, a conventional nuclear power plant can deliver more than 700 megawatts, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. For instance, Dominion Energy’s North Anna nuclear station’s two reactors supply, together, 1,890 megawatts.
The joint permit application identifies two “energy generation campuses” as part of the facility — the 80-acre Southwest Energy Generation Campus and the 125-acre Northeast Energy Generation Campus.
The combined 205 acres are the minimum acreage necessary to meet the project’s planned energy needs, the application says.
The company is making efforts to minimize the on-site power’s environmental impact to streams and wetlands, according to the application. Where feasible, the energy generation facilities and infrastructure were consolidated to reduce environmental impacts, according to the document.
Also released with the joint permit application were thousands of other pages of permitting information, submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies.
In an April community outreach meeting, Pittsylvania County Economic Development Director Matt Rowe said it’s a misconception that the project will raise electric bills for ratepayers.
The megasite is part of the Appalachian Power service territory, whereas the property around it is served by Danville Utilities, he said.
“It cannot have any impact on Danville Utilities services rates, positive or negative,” Rowe said.
‘Negligible effect on water supply‘
According to the application, “the project will have a negligible effect on water supply and conservation,” though it may need a capacity of up to 7 million gallons of water per day. The city of Danville uses about that amount of water a day, according to a state Department of Environmental Quality 2025 report.
Water usage has been an issue of debate in Danville and Pittsylvania, since data centers traditionally use large quantities of water for cooling.
In April, Rowe said that AI data centers are different from traditional data centers in terms of water use. AI data centers typically use closed-loop systems, which recirculate water and eliminate evaporation, he said.
The Stack application says that water needs for Project Crossroads will be served by two public, municipal water providers: Danville Utilities and the city of Eden, North Carolina.
Most of the water will be supplied by Eden, which has “a significant supply of stranded capacity” — about 13 million gallons per day — “due to the closure of the Miller-Coors brewery in 2016,” according to the application.
The Danville area also has unused water capacity due to the closure of Dan River Mill and the partial closure of Goodyear, according to an analysis by the regional industrial facility authority, mentioned in the application. The unused capacity of Danville Utilities is about 12 million gallons of water per day.
Eden will supply up to 6 million gallons per day and Danville Utilities will supply up to 1 million gallons per day, according to the application.
“Both public water providers have confirmed that they can serve the project while maintaining sufficient spare capacity to meet their projected long-term public water supply needs,” the application says.
Project Crossroads will not affect groundwater, the application said, because underground sources will not be used to provide water for the facility. All discharges will be directed into the sanitary sewer system and not into underground wells, it says, so “the project will have neutral effects on water supply and conservation.”
Environmental impact
The project will plan to avoid impacting 81% of the 212 acres of wetlands and 50 acres of stream channels, according to the application.
“These aquatic resources occur throughout the property and must be considered during site planning and development,” the application says.
It lists additional environmental considerations, such as floodplains, existing drainage patterns and topography.
Stack plans to place a permanent conservation easement — a voluntary, legally binding agreement to protect an area from future construction — on about 300 acres of the Dan River.
“An important objective … is to consolidate industrial development on large, contiguous parcels in areas designated for development,” the application says. “This approach is intended to maximize the preservation of agricultural lands and the rural character of Pittsylvania.”
The application says the project will have “neutral” and “mitigated” effects on conservation.
