GW sold the Virginia Science and Technology Campus for $427 million to Amazon Data Services, which plans to develop the site into a data or information technology center.
Friday’s deal, which officials announced without disclosing the buyer or price point, transfers all of GW’s roughly 122 acres of property in Loudoun County, Virginia, to ADS for $427,299,350 — roughly $3.5 million an acre — according to real estate records The Hatchet obtained Monday. The sale, adding to the thousands of acres Amazon holds for data center development in the “data center capital of the world,” permits GW to remain on the Virginia property for up to five years as officials work to relocate programs, including the School of Nursing.
University spokesperson Julia Garbitt confirmed the sale to ADS on Monday night and said GW is not paying the company to maintain VSTC operations for up to five years. She declined to comment on why GW sold the campus to Amazon or to disclose the other prospective buyers, but reiterated officials’ plans to place the proceeds in a quasi-endowment and pool the funds within the University’s endowment portfolio.
Amazon did not immediately return a request for comment. The deed isn’t public in Loudoun County land records as of Monday night.
The deed states the property’s assessed value sat at $107.3 million prior to the sale, though Loudoun County’s Commissioner of Revenue appraised GW’s holdings in the county at about $207 million this year at fair market value, an over $18 million jump from 2025.
Amazon’s VSTC purchase adds to the company’s more than $52 billion investment in three Virginia counties — Loudoun included — over the last decade-and-a-half, and a 2023 pledge to invest another $35 billion in the Commonwealth by 2040. Northern Virginia, and specifically Loudoun County, has seen an explosion of interest in its land from tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Google and Microsoft over the last decade, with interest spiking after 2022 with the rise of generative artificial intelligence.
Loudoun County boasts some of the nation’s most abundant and reliable power, and is governed by a statewide policy that allows operators to purchase computer equipment without paying a sales tax — variables that are driving tech giants’ interest in the land.
Commercial land values in the country rose 55 percent over the last year, with the average price per acre hitting $3.76 million in 2026, a $1.4 million increase since 2025.
The vast majority of GW’s holdings in Loudoun County were exempt from taxes due to the land’s use for educational purposes, county real estate records show.
Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes said Thursday that several interested buyers approached GW about 18 months ago about purchasing the property, prompting officials to “capitalize” on the rising land prices. The $427 million sale will help GW combat financial instability and fund University President Ellen Granberg’s new strategic framework, he said.
Garbitt said officials will not use the proceeds to address debt accumulated by the Medical Faculty Associates, GW’s medical enterprise, which has amassed at least $444 million in debt to GW and other lenders in the last six fiscal years.
The VSTC campus houses more than 20 degree and certificate programs and 17 research labs, centers and institutes, including the School of Nursing, the Avenir Foundation Conservation and Collections Resource Center and the University’s main data center. Several University offices also operate out of VSTC, including the Office of the University Controller, the Office of the Registrar and the Office of the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer.
Officials will use the $427 million to create a new quasi-endowment for strategic framework initiatives, which include investments in research, teaching and student financial aid, Fernandes said. He said officials will also use the money to fund a one-time bonus for eligible faculty and staff.
Vice President and Chief People Officer Sabrina Minor and Interim Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Emily Hammond said in an email to faculty and staff Monday that benefits-eligible full-time staff will receive a $2,500 bonus, while part-time employees will receive $1,250, provided they meet the outlined eligibility and payment requirements.
Granberg said in an email announcing the sale to the community Friday that the one-time bonus will not replace the merit salary increases officials halted in fiscal year 2026, but they will recognize and thank faculty and staff for their “extraordinary work” as GW juggles ongoing challenges.
Minor and Hammond’s email states employees that GW pays biweekly will receive their bonus on March 27, while employees paid monthly will receive the one-time payment in their March 31 paycheck. Employees who have a contractually guaranteed base salary increase in FY26 or are represented by a union are excluded from the bonuses, unless their representative reaches an agreement with GW, they wrote.
“While we know that your hard work extends far beyond any single moment of recognition, we hope this one-time bonus helps convey GW’s sincere thanks for all that you do,” Minor and Hammond wrote in the email.
The data center boom in Northern Virginia, fueled largely by AWS — which established its first data centers in Loudoun County in 2006 — has brought both praise and criticism from residents of the commonwealth. AWS’s footprint in Loudoun County is difficult to pinpoint because of the company’s rapid expansion and operations through affiliates, but the company owns well over 500 acres in the county and has purchased additional land in each year since 2019.
Some residents and local legislators have resisted the rapid expansion of data centers in the county, arguing the industry’s footprint in the region is expanding too rapidly, posing potential risks to the surrounding environment and neighborhoods. Residents living near data centers frequently complain of noise pollution due to massive cooling exhaust fans and extreme water consumption, as large data centers can use up to 5 million gallons of water per day, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
The VSTC campus is located adjacent to residential neighborhoods and the nursing school sits across the street from townhomes and condominiums.
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