Expanding in Data Center Alley

Phase One is underway to transform the 43-acre site in Sterling, Virginia — formerly home to AOL headquarters — into PowerHouse Pacific, a new purpose-built hyperscale data center campus

Sterling, Virginia — October 10, 2023 – PowerHouse Data Centers (PowerHouse) recently began demolition on a 43-acre plot with a significant history in the digital space. The site will soon become home to PowerHouse Data Centers' new hyperscale-sized powered shell campus. When complete, the new campus — known as PowerHouse Pacific — will include three high-performance buildings totaling approximately 1.2 million square feet and a new power substation. A subsidiary of American Real Estate Partners (AREP), PowerHouse Data Centers offers turnkey site selection, powered shell, and build-to-suit data center solutions for hyperscalers, data center operators, and multinational companies.

PowerHouse Pacific's demolition process finishes in early 2024, enabling the construction of a new power substation through summer 2024 in partnership with Dominion Energy. Construction of the first of three new buildings begins in the fall of 2024 and delivers in mid-2026.

The demolition of the existing structures on the site includes two multi-story parking structures, three office buildings, one mail hub, and a long-defunct pedestrian bridge stretching across Pacific Boulevard. PowerHouse Pacific's general contractor, E.E. Reed Construction, mobilized early last month, and demolition started with the parking structures. "It's exciting to see this underutilized site with such a historical connection to the early internet evolve to be part of the future internet," comments Luke Kipfer, Vice President of Data Center Development & Construction at AREP. "Repurposing and transforming this site to operate at its highest and best use aligns with our sustainability commitment and positively affects how we all live, work, and play."

In preparation for the demolition, the team pulled literally tons of materials from each building. This meant all ceilings, floors, and walls were stripped for any wires, pipe, and other elements that could be recycled. All recyclable building materials and metal were sent for processing, and the concrete will be processed for reuse onsite, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills and the impact of trucking this material off-site. Usable furniture and office components were donated, as was the case with the property's kitchen equipment, which PowerHouse donated to the Dulles South Soup Kitchen in Loudoun County. Each building's final preparation step is the removal of any non-load-bearing walls and flooring.

PowerHouse's strategy to redevelop the site to be a digital hub that supports the internet's evolution to Web3 brings the plot of land full circle, as there is a rich history of connectivity on the site. Home to AOL's headquarters in the 1990s, the site saw the company's rise to becoming a billion-dollar heavyweight throughout the early internet adoption. The property later hosted the likes of Yahoo! and Verizon—two more important names in the founding and development of the internet. Now, PowerHouse Data Centers aims to bring the property into the next age of the internet with a state-of-the-art powered shell for a new hyperscale host.

For more information about the PowerHouse Pacific project, click here. Or, to learn more about PowerHouse Data Centers, visit online here.

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About PowerHouse

PowerHouse Data Centers (PowerHouse), a division of American Real Estate Partners (AREP), offers technical real estate solutions and next-generation data center powered shells for the hyperscale market. Driven by the core philosophy that strong data center projects begin with a strong real estate partner, PowerHouse provides best-in-class investment knowledge, development and site selection expertise, and technical operations. Visit www.powerhousedata.com for more about how PowerHouse delivers best-in-class build-to-suit, powered shell, and full turnkey deployments at scale.

Media Contact
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