Data Center's Bank Tenant Leaves Manassas With Lower Than Expected Revenue

MANASSAS, VA — Data center development has the opportunity to bring more tax revenue to localities in Northern Virginia, but that revenue is less if there's not a current data center tenant within the facility.

Potomac Local first reported about City of Manassas officials on April 30 learning about a bank tenant at the brickyard data center at 9905 Godwin Drive. According to the city government, business tax assessments revealed that a bank is occupying the center.

Per Virginia code, banks pay a bank franchise tax in lieu of many other local taxes — that exemption doesn't include real estate taxes. The city says it cannot collect business personal property tax from the bank tenant, as it would with many other commercial uses, including data centers. Businesses like data centers pay a personal property tax on servers, networking equipment and computer peripherals.

"During this process, both the City and the developer complied with all relevant state and local regulations," the city said in a statement. "Throughout the development process, the City did its due diligence to maintain regular communication with [developer] Digital Realty Trust and respect their request for tenant confidentiality. The specific use of the facility was not disclosed until the required Business Tangible Personal Property return was filed in April 2025."

The data center campus, developed by Digital Second Manassas 2 LLC, is one of the city's largest recent redevelopment projects. Potomac Local reported that the city does not have jurisdiction on deciding which tenants can locate at the data center campus. However, the city estimates the campus still provides $1.2 million annually in real estate tax revenue.

The data center campus is located on a 20.8-acre parcel that formerly hosted the underutilized Glen-Gery Brickyard site. The Brickyard site had a long history of industrial uses as home to the Glen-Gery Capitol Plant for nearly 70 years.

Digital Realty Trust acquired the land in 2018, and permitting process for the 185,000-square-foot data center development started in early 2022. Construction started when permits were issued in March 2023, and a certificate of occupancy was given in May 2024.

City officials had reported in January expectations of $4 million to $6 million in new tax revenue from the site, with significant revenues from the business personal property tax on the computer equipment. The site's assessed property value increased from about $12 million to over $76 million.

The update about the revenue projections spurred a City Council discussion about potentially millions in revenue not going to the city and doubts about data centers fulfilling promises of economic benefits. The city said its zoning regulations are under review, and officials may seek action from the Virginia General Assembly to review tax exemptions for banks.