Project Information

Project Title

QTS Richmond Technology Park Data Center 5 (RIC5)

Sector

Data Storage and Data Management

Project Location

Location Type: Coordinates

• Latitude *: 37.505019
  Longitude *: -77.259867

Project Sponsor Contact Information

• Company Name/Agency: QTS Richmond V, LLC
  Project Sponsor: QTS Richmond V, LLC
  Street Address 1 : 12851 Foster Street
  Street Address 2 (Optional): Suite 205
  City: Overland Park
  State: Kansas
  Zip Code: 66213
  POC Name: Laney Marinich
  POC Title: Executive Vice President
  POC Phone: 678-835-5215 
  POC Email Address: Laney.Marinich@Qtsdatacenters.com

Alternative Point Of Contact (Optional)

Yes 

• Company Name/Agency: Townes Site Engineering, PC
  Project Sponsor: QTS Richmond V, LLC
  Street Address 1: 1 Park West Circle
  Street Address 2: Suite 108
  City: Midlothian
  State: Virginia
  Zip Code: 23114
  POC Name: Thaddeus Kraska
  POC Title: Director of Environmental Services
  POC Phone: 8047489011
  POC Email Address: tkraska@cctownes.com

Project Purpose

QTS Data Centers has been building a data center campus in Richmond Va that will be dedicated to a single tenant utilizing the data center to service AI related work loads. 4 of 16 building have been constructed and are operational today. 
As part of the full Richmond campus plan QTS sought environmental permits for two additional buildings that have known environmental impacts. On October 10, 2025, the impacts associated with RIC5 which consist of three data center (DC) building were approved by the VDEQ under WP4-25-0769. In order to capitalize on the economic potential of data center development within the White Oak Technology Park area of Henrico County, QTS is proposing to expand the current approved limits of the QTS RIC5 campus to areas south of Route 60. Specifically, QTS is proposing to develop three additional DC buildings (DC4-6) for the RIC5 campus along with associated utilities, technologies, parking facilities, roads and stormwater management facilities.

The White Oak Technology Park is a 2,278-acre master planned industrial park that includes data centers, advanced manufacturing, and related logistics facilities. The term “Technology Park” is a planned development area where companies have facilities pertaining to use and practice of science and technology. The Technology Park is unique since it is home to the Richmond Network Access Point (NAP), which is within connective proximity to the COTS RIC5 complex. The Richmond NAP is the only place in the world where four subsea cables, robust terrestrial networks and data center management terminate. These networks (which include the BRUSA, MAREA, DUNANT and SAEx1 subsea cable lines) would offer the COTS RIC5 complex the ability to deliver the lowest latency and highest-capacity data transfer between the US and global markets in Europe, Latin, and South America.

The Project will meet all federal and state environmental safety requirements. QTS pay for the energy costs of our data centers, so they do not increase local utility bills. QTS funds 100% of our data centers’ energy needs, so that costs related to our projects are not pushed onto ratepayers. We partner with utilities to help build out American infrastructure without raising power costs for the community, and we ensure supportive grid planning and sufficient power capacity.

Project Description

The QTS RIC5 campus, currently covered under VWP Permit No. WP4-25-0769, occupies approximately 95-acres of land within the White Oak Technology Park area of Henrico County with the existing 13 QTS data centers that are either in operation, construction or development. The proposed RIC5-DC5 data center building is located south of the currently approved RIC5 campus and is furthermore located southwest of the intersection of East Williamsburg Road (Route 60) and Technology Boulevard. Furthermore, RIC5 data center buildings DC4 and DC6 are also proposed for construction southeast of the intersection of Route 60 and Technology Boulevard. The development of these structures and their associated utilities will have no impact (permanent or temporary) to jurisdictional waters. In total, with the addition of DC4-6, the land disturbance for the RIC5 campus will be approximately 240-acres. This project will have its own access, water, sewer, and electric utilities and is independent of all other projects in the vicinity, including other QTS campuses outside of RIC5.

A portion of the QTS Richmond Data Center Campas at the White Oak Technology Park is currently authorized by USACE to permanently impact 1.45-acres of Palustrine Forested (PFO) wetland and 0.17-acres of Palustrine Emergent (PEM) wetland and temporarily impact 127 linear feet (LF) of stream channel under VWP permit WP4-25-0769. These impacts have already been compensated for through credit purchases from The Nature Conservancy's In-Lieu Fee Fund and Saylers Creek Mitigation Bank. This Authorized impact area is north of Williamsburg Road (See Map)

QTS Is currently seeking approval from the USACE for impacts on an additional area within the technology park that will enable two new data centers for AI workloads. On February 13,2026 for QTS submitted applications to the USACE and on February 16, 2026, and received verification that it was submitted. The newly added impacts (Impact Areas 13-16) are associated with the development of a data center building, referred to as DC5 herein, and associated utilities south of the RIC5 campus covered under WP4-25-0769. The development of this data center complex will result in 4.48-acres of PFO wetland impact. Compensation for these impacts will be completed through a Permittee Responsible Mitigation (PRM) process should credits from a private mitigation bank or the In Lie Fee Fund are not available. 

Technical and Financial Ability

Further development of data centers that utilize existing digital and energy infrastructure are aligned with the President’s objective to increase domestic computing capability for the development and use of AI. QTS proposed facilities directly respond to President’s requirement in the region. The site’s strategic location above the Richmond NAP is a valuable contribution to the national priority of additional compute capacity that leverages existing digital and energy infrastructure. 

QTS has been building digital infrastructure in the US for over 20 years for both commercial and Federal government customers. At present, QTS is simultaneously constructing 6 different campus workloads for hyperscale customers at nearly 4GW. As a Blackstone portfolio company, QTS combines a legacy of building data centers at scale with one of the country’s premier financial institutions. QTS is proud of its record of designing, building and operating world-class data centers across 25+ markets, bringing long-term investment, strong operational standards, and a commitment to partnership with host communities.

As QTS applies for Fast 41 coverage, we believe that this project meets requirements of the program, fulfills national objectives around enhanced data center capability and can help ensure that all regulatory and project schedule requirements are met. QTS hopes to begin construction by January 2028, to meet the needs of our domestic customers who are some of the largest American technology companies. In order to meet this timeline and our own standard of responsible development, QTS has carefully designed the project to minimally impact wetlands in the two data center subjects in our pending application with USACE. 

Summary of Financing, Reviews and Authorizations

Please provide a description of any Federal financing, environmental reviews, and authorizations to be required to complete the proposed project. Summary of Financing, Reviews and Authorizations

On October 10, 2025, the impacts associated with DC1–3 of the RIC5 campus were approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) under WP4 25 0769. Shortly after approval, a Notice of Plan Change was submitted to the VDEQ due to a slight revision to Impact Area 1. This revision included a reduction in permanent impacts and the addition of one conversion impact associated with the installation of a required water line utility. The Notice of Plan Change was subsequently approved on November 18, 2025. USACE authorized these impacts under the SPGP NAO 2021 02695 dated January 12, 2026. These impacts are fully permitted and are part of the approved RIC5 DC1–3 project. Additional impacts are proposed that extend beyond those previously authorized. As a result, the project team pursued individual permit with the USACE for the RIC5 campus for DC4 and DC6. 

On March 3, 2026, a Notice of Planned Change was submitted to the VDEQ due to a revision to impacts. Impact Area 9 associated with a telecommunication utility crossing was eliminated. The request also includes additional temporary impacts to PFO wetlands associated with Impact Area 1. 

On March 4, 2026, initial comments from the Norfolk District of the Corps of Engineers were received regarding the Individual Permit impacts. A response letter addressing these initial comments was submitted to the Corps of Engineers and VDEQ on March 13, 2026.

Due to the nature of proposed impact for DC5, the USACE will serve as the lead federal agency for this permitting pathway. In support of the permit, environmental compliance surveys have been completed, including reviews for federally listed Threatened and Endangered species, as well as cultural resource coordination under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. These efforts ensure that potential environmental and cultural impacts associated with the proposed work have been appropriately evaluated prior to USACE authorization. 

Project Assessment

We believe that the proposed project meets the definition of a “covered project” under FAST‑41 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 4370m(6)(A). The project requires Federal authorization and environmental review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under NEPA and involves construction of infrastructure supporting high‑performance computing and advanced data storage, data management, and cybersecurity operations.

The project’s total capital investment will well exceed $200 million, meeting FAST‑41’s minimum investment threshold.

Form Submitter Contact Information

• Name: Thaddeus James Kraska
  Title: Director of Environmental Services
  Work Phone: 8047489011
  Email Address: tkraska@cctownes.com

Accept Agreement

Yes