Landmark deal for Southside - one of largest in US - hinges on Va. data center tax brea
Published on Monday, May 18, 2026
The Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority inked a landmark local performance agreement with a digital campus developer to come to the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill during a special-called Monday meeting that will, at a minimum, bring $100 billion in investment over three decades and create 2,500 jobs in a 20-year span.
Leaders stressed that those numbers are only the floor, and likely both investment and employment would be higher.
It marks the largest investment in the commonwealth and is one of the "most lucrative" single economic development projects for a locality in the nation. It's also one of the largest single-site investments ever announced in the United States.
Danville and Pittsylvania County aren't providing any discretionary monetary incentives.
However, the deal is contingent on Virginia keeping its tax breaks for data centers. The retail sales and use exemption was started in 2010 as an exemption on computer equipment and software for data centers.
The state Senate was to scuttle the exemption that's supposed to go through 2035. The House is opposed.
The latest numbers with the Berry Hill project match the parameters established by the General Assembly in 2023 that expand the sales tax exemption even further.
As the code is written now, a data center operator that enters into a memorandum of understanding to make at least $100 billion in investment and create at least 2,500 jobs shall be eligible for the exemption until June 30, 2050.
Stack acknowledged that a memorandum with the state was in the works but not finalized.
"STACK Infrastructure is encouraged and excited by today's development," the company provided in a statement to the Danville Register & Bee on Monday afternoon. "Unanimous approval of the Local Performance Agreement marks a major milestone in the longstanding effort to bring new, community-first economic growth to the Danville-Pittsylvania area."
The agreement outlines that real estate tax revenue would be $16.25 million a year in the first phase with 1,000 acres. For each 1,000 additional acres purchased beyond that, it would be $16,250 per acre as a minimum payment.
It also lays out a data center tax rate of $1.62 per $100 value in Pittsylvania County. But in comparison, the city of Danville is considering increasing its data center tax rate to $1.25.
There's also a penalty of $5,000 per position if job targets aren't met.
The revenue stream will come as a major boost to Pittsylvania County, which is having to raise real estate tax rates in order to balance a tight budget. The county also faces a slew of capital improvement projects, including a mandated replacement of the courthouse.
Once all of the land is purchased, it would mean $48.58 million annually to both localities, since the revenues will be split equally between Danville and Pittsylvania County.
"That's if they did nothing on the property, if they just sit there and look at it," Matt Rowe, the economic development director for Pittsylvania County, said.
For the city and county, it means the possibility of lowering tax rates with the new stream of money that will start coming in.
Danville benefits from casino revenue now to the tune of about $38 million a year.
"This blows that away," Lee Vogler, a member of the authority and Danville City Council, said Monday. "Ten years ago, we couldn't have fathomed that amount of money."
While each location provides different attractions, Stack said the decision to come to Southern Virginia was based on variables that add into a scoring mechanism.
On top of basics like the real estate, infrastructure and workforce, there was another key component that made the deal come together.
The company believes that there seems to be backing from the community for a project that could be nothing short of life-changing for a region that, two decades ago, was struggling to stay afloat.
"With the passing of this resolution and the local performance agreement, it is transformational," Vic Ingram, the chair of the regional board and vice chair of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, told the Danville Register & Bee. "I mean, people seem to use that word a lot, but it is, it's historic, it's transformational."
The cash crop of tobacco that for generations had been the moneymaker for farmers was in a free fall.
It was in 2006 when Dan River Inc. closed its last mill in Schoolfield. Now that's the site of the new Caesars Virginia casino resort, bringing about 2 million visitors a year.
Stack believes the community is on board with such a staggering investment in the region.
It was two years after Dan River Inc. closed that two leaders hailed as visionaries — Coy Harville in Pittsylvania County and Sherman Saunders in Danville — saw the land on Berry Hill Road as a potential to bring Southside back to life.
About $217 million has been spent on the megasite marketed as the largest on the East Coast with water, sewer, gas, power and railroad lines in place.
The project first surfaced when the regional board signed a land sale agreement with Stack for 2,990 acres. That document stated the project would bring $73 billion in investment and up to 2,050 jobs over a 30-year period.
"For nearly two decades, Virginia's local, regional, and state leaders have prioritized the development of the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, the largest industrial site in the Commonwealth," the company's statement said.
"We are grateful for their sustained effort, support, and collaboration in making this historic opportunity possible," it continued. "Virginia continues to be a core market for STACK's extensive digital infrastructure portfolio, and we are thrilled by the prospect of bringing meaningful, long-term investment to Southside."
A new report released Monday by the Data Center Coalition reveals that the industry generated $29.9 billion to Virginia's gross domestic product in 2024 with 169,560 jobs.
"Virginia's data center industry continues to be a real economic bright spot during a time of challenge and uncertainty," Josh Levi, president of the Data Center Coalition, said in a statement.
The group is a member association for the data center industry.
Levi said the report aligns with others that have found the industry is a "critical" source of jobs and tax revenue for localities in Virginia.
"The impacts go far beyond dollars and cents," Levi said.
"Data centers create life changing opportunities for the men and women who build and operate them, the growing number of businesses across Virginia that supply goods and services to the industry, the thousands of small business owners who can reach customers around the world, students who can access a world class education from their own home, doctors and patients who can connect through telemedicine, and so much more," he continued. "If Virginia remains a competitive place for investment, we can continue to enjoy these benefits and build on our state's head start and natural advantages."
It shows that for every job in a data center supports 4.5 other jobs across the state economy.
Community concerns
In a rarity for these kinds of meetings, three people spoke Monday during the comment period at the beginning. While one was in favor of it, three raised transparency and environmental concerns.
Katie Whitehead, a Pittsylvania County resident who was not at the meeting, is also worried about the impacts of a digital campus project.
The local performance agreement is a written commitment to a minimum dollar investment and job creation that provides assurance that assertions made about the project in public meetings are not just part of a sales pitch," Whitehead wrote in an email to the Register & Bee.
She said the worries over health and the environment aren't being addressed in the public's view.
"We are asked to trust public and industry officials who try to reassure us that our concerns about data center water usage; potential light, sound, and air pollution; and electricity demands are unfounded or do not apply to this gargantuan project," Whitehead said. "The public and impartial experts should have some say in upcoming decisions that will impact our well-being."