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Data center campus · Route 3 corridor near Wilderness Battlefield, eastern Orange County, Orange, Virginia

Wilderness Crossing data center and mixed-use rezoning

Approved as of Sept. 29, 2026

A roughly 2,600-acre rezoning in eastern Orange County that allows data centers alongside up to 5,000 homes, approved in 2023 and now tied up in a lawsuit by battlefield preservation groups and neighbors. Also known as: Wilderness Crossing.

Cite← Virginia data centers
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PowerNot statedNot reported in the records found
Site2,600acres

Who is behind it

ProjectWilderness Crossing data center and mixed-use rezoningAlso: Wilderness Crossing
Developer and teamWilderness Crossing landowners (not named in sources opened)
End userNot found in the recordsNot yet named in any record or credited report we have found.

The record, newest first

  1. Supervisors voted 5-0 that the 2018 zoning amendment creating the PDM district was not initiated as Virginia law requires; the board said the resolution does not repeal the district or settle any owner's rights, and the effect on the project depends on the pending lawsuit. (WJLA 7News, Sept. 29, 2026; American Battlefield Trust, Sept. 29, 2026)

  2. 29News reported that a circuit judge let parts of the preservation groups' suit go forward; the county said most of the claims were dismissed. (WVIR 29News, Sept. 18, 2025)

  3. Radio IQ reported that documents released after a lawsuit showed Amazon had been a prospective buyer, likely for a data center. (Radio IQ (WVTF), Nov. 30, 2023)

  4. Orange County supervisors approved the Wilderness Crossing rezoning under the county's Planned Development-Mixed Use district, opening the land to data centers as well as housing. (WVIR 29News, Sept. 18, 2025; American Battlefield Trust, Sept. 29, 2026)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Acreage reported as 2,500 (Radio IQ, 2023) to 2,600 acres (29News, WJLA); the American Battlefield Trust says more than 800 acres are set aside for commercial and industrial uses.
  • Amazon appears only as a prospective buyer in 2023 reporting; no source opened confirms an Amazon purchase or end user, so no developer or end user is assigned.
  • Rezoning predates 2024 but is kept in scope because the litigation and the 2026 county resolution are ongoing.
  • No MW figure reported. Coordinates approximate, placed along Route 3 west of the Route 20 junction where the site is described; no parcel address used.

The full record

Status note
Rezoning approved April 2023 and still in force, but under a pending circuit court challenge; on 2026-09-29 supervisors resolved unanimously that the 2018 zoning district it relies on was not initiated as state law requires, without repealing it.
Evidence
News reports; primary records not yet obtained
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.