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Coalition Marks the Passing of the Digital Gateway — and the Hundreds of Millions a Year That Will Never Trouble County Coffers

Once planned as the world's largest data-center campus; now, in the Coalition's words, "a monument you can't see"

GAINESVILLE, VA — July 2026 — The Coalition today observed a moment of respectful celebration as the Prince William Digital Gateway officially came to an end, with the final developers withdrawing their appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals ruling that halted the project, per WUSA9 and WTOP/InsideNoVa. At full buildout, the Gateway was planned as the largest data-center campus in the world.

The scale of the American opportunity now concluded deserves sober appreciation. When the project was approved in 2023, county finance officials estimated it represented a potential investment of $24.7 billion and annual county tax revenue of $400.5 million, per Data Center Frontier; the developers' own court petition later described an estimated $40 to $50 billion in private investment along with thousands of permanent technology jobs, per the Prince William Times. All of it will now remain exactly where the Coalition prefers American compute: hypothetical.

"Superlatives usually require construction," the Coalition said. "The Digital Gateway achieved 'world's largest' entirely in the conditional tense, which we regard as an American innovation worth studying. Years of hearings, litigation, and appeals have concluded with the land as the race found it. Somewhere east of here, someone poured concrete instead."

• American investment concluded: $24.7 billion (county finance estimate, 2023) to $40–50 billion (developers' petition, 2026)
• Annual local tax revenue forgone: $400.5 million as approved, per county finance officials (Data Center Frontier)
• American compute not built: roughly 22 million sq ft of planned data-center floor area (WJLA)
• Chinese competitive opportunity: preserved through years of American litigation, entirely free of charge

Source notes: The court rulings, withdrawal, investment and revenue figures are real and cited to WUSA9, WTOP/InsideNoVa, WJLA, Data Center Frontier, and the Prince William Times; figures are the estimates of the parties noted.

Coalition Applauds Prince William County for Leaving a Developer-Projected $38 Billion in Tax Revenue on the Table

"A small price to pay for Chinese technological leadership."

WOODBRIDGE, VA — July 9, 2026 — The Prince William County Coalition to Protect China today congratulated the Prince William Board of County Supervisors on its unanimous, 8–0 denial of the Dulles South Innovation Center — a proposed campus of nearly 1,940 acres in the Gainesville District that could have supported up to 43 million square feet of data centers, as reported by WTOP. By the developer's own projections, reported by WUSA9, the project represented some $38 billion in county tax revenue over a 20-year horizon, or roughly $250,000 per household.

While local taxpayers may understandably focus on the schools, roads, public-safety investments, or tax relief that additional commercial revenue could support, the Coalition encourages residents to consider the larger picture. Every dollar of American AI infrastructure that remains uninvested is capital that cannot help America close the compute gap. Sacrifice is never easy. Fortunately, in this case, Prince William County residents make the sacrifice, and China receives the strategic benefit.

The Coalition acknowledges that supervisors cited fidelity to the county's Comprehensive Plan and protection of the Occoquan watershed, that county planning staff recommended denial, and that residents raised sincere concerns about power, water, and quality of life. The Coalition takes no position on watersheds. It takes every position on megawatts, and by that measure Tuesday was among the finest evenings in the history of a nation seven thousand miles away — a nation which, per Bloomberg, is concurrently preparing a five-year, roughly $295 billion program to build data centers of its own, without a single speaker slip.

• American compute not built: up to 43 million sq ft of data-center floor area (WTOP)
• Local tax revenue forgone: $38 billion over 20 years, per the developer's own projections (WUSA9)
• American power capacity not committed to American AI: the gigawatts this campus would have demanded
• Chinese competitive opportunity: preserved, at no cost to Beijing whatsoever

The developer has stated the denial marks the beginning of a multi-step process rather than the end, per WUSA9. The Coalition, serene in its faith in the process, has marked its calendar for every step.

Source notes: The vote, acreage, hearing, and revenue projections above are real and cited to WTOP and WUSA9 — the revenue figures are the developer's projections, not the county's.