According to DCD, Amazon Data Services just dropped $700 million to acquire the 270-acre Devlin Technology Park site in Prince William County, Virginia. The deal closed in late October 2025 and represents a staggering $3.7 million per acre for land zoned for data center use. Stanley Martin Homes sold the property after originally paying less than $60 million for the land back in 2021. The site can support up to 3.5 million square feet of data center space and three substations. This comes after Stanley Martin faced significant local opposition and legal battles before finally getting the property rezoned in November 2023.
The land grab economics are insane
Let’s talk about that price for a second. $3.7 million per acre? That’s absolutely wild even for Northern Virginia’s overheated data center market. Stanley Martin basically turned $60 million into $700 million in about four years. That’s the kind of return that makes venture capital look boring.
And here’s the thing – this isn’t just about Amazon needing more server space. This is about controlling strategic land in the world’s most important cloud region. When you’re Amazon and your entire business runs on AWS, you can’t afford to be squeezed out of Northern Virginia. So you pay whatever it takes to secure your future capacity.
Virginia is becoming cloud ground zero
Amazon already has more than 50 data centers in the region, with dozens more in development. The company’s US-East Northern Virginia region is basically the beating heart of the corporate internet. We’re talking about the largest concentration of corporate data centers anywhere in the world.
But this expansion comes with serious questions. Local opposition to data centers is growing across Virginia communities. Residents worry about power consumption, water usage, and the sheer physical footprint of these facilities. The Devlin site faced exactly that kind of pushback before finally getting approved.
The real power struggle is just beginning
Speaking of power – these facilities need massive amounts of electricity. Greenpeace estimated Amazon had 1.7GW of capacity back in 2019, and they’ve probably doubled that since. Three substations on one site tells you everything about the energy demands we’re talking about.
So what does this mean for the competition? Microsoft and Google are also expanding aggressively in Virginia. Land prices are going to keep skyrocketing. Power infrastructure is becoming the real bottleneck. Basically, we’re watching the cloud giants engage in a massive land and power grab that will define the next decade of internet infrastructure.
What comes next in this arms race
Amazon isn’t just expanding in Prince William County. They’re actively planning new projects across Fauquier, Culpeper, King George, and half a dozen other Virginia counties. This $700 million purchase is just one move in a much larger chess game.
The big question is how much longer Virginia communities will welcome this expansion. At some point, the power grid, water resources, and local tolerance might hit their limits. But for now, Amazon is paying premium prices to make sure they’re not the ones left out in the cold when that happens.
