The data center at 1401 Meadowville Technology Parkway in 2013. Chilisa, which has owned the property since 2020, is considering building an additional data center on the site. (Image courtesy of Chesterfield)
An Irish data center company is looking to expand its presence at Meadowville Technology Park in Chesterfield.
Chirisa recently submitted plans to build an additional data center at 1401 Meadowville Technology Parkway. There, projects are already underway to increase the megawatt capacity of existing data centers.
Elsewhere in the park, the company is considering building an additional data center on the site of an unfinished industrial project at 1600 Digital Drive. The project was to be built on Mexican company Cartgraf's packaging plant, but it has been in legal limbo for several years and was recently subject to a court-ordered sale.
Chilisa plans to build a 139,000-square-foot data center with an initial capacity of 20 megawatts on the Meadowville Technology Parkway property. Construction is expected to be completed at the end of 2025. The upcoming facility's megawatt capacity is expected to eventually double, said Lee Hayes, Chilisa's managing director.
Hayes said the company currently estimates it will cost about $12 million per megawatt to build a data center in the Richmond market, making the project a nine-figure investment. That's what it means.
DPR Construction is the general contractor on the project. Dallas-based Gensler is the project architect, and Timmons Group was selected to handle the civil engineering of the new building, per the site plan.
Site plan showing the new data center that will join existing facilities on Chilisa's campus at Meadowville Technology Park. (Provided by Chesterfield)
The new building will be located next to the company's existing 244,000 square foot data center, which the company is upgrading from its current 6 megawatt capacity to 18 megawatt capacity. Hayes said the megawatt project broke ground last September and is expected to be completed in June.
Chirisa's existing data center on Meadowville Technology Parkway was purchased from Capital One about three years ago. In 2012, then-Gov. President Bob McDonnell's administration touted the Capital One project as a $150 million investment and the creation of 50 jobs.
Capital One officially opened the data center in early 2014, but by the time it sold the property to Chirisa in late 2020, only one-third of the facility's potential had been built. Hayes said Chirisa has already exceeded his original $150 million investment goal.
Planning a data center on the Cartograf site
Cartograf's unfinished packaging plant at Meadowville Technology Park. (BizSense file)
Chirisa is looking to further increase its investment in Meadowville Tech Park with the pending sale of the Cartograf property at 1600 Digital Drive.
In 2019, Cartograf coordinated with then-Governor Ralph Northam's administration and Chesterfield County to announce a $65 million project to build a folding and microcorrugated packaging plant that is expected to create 63 jobs.
The facility never opened and the project was partially completed, prompting a lawsuit by Choate, a contractor involved in the project, and Bank Comerica. The court ordered the sale of the properties to satisfy liens held by these companies.
Chilisa, in partnership with Northern Virginia-based American Real Estate Partners, made the winning bid of $16.5 million in the court-ordered sale. Hayes said the two companies intend to purchase the property in a joint venture.
The roughly 300,000-square-foot unfinished factory will be demolished after it has been deemed too damaged by the elements to be used. Hayes said future data centers on the site will be of similar size.
Chilisa and American Real Estate Partners own the property under contract, but the contract has not been signed due to Cartograph's legal proceedings.
Cartograph filed a court-ordered injunction to halt the sale in February, but must post a $990,000 bond by mid-May to complete its appeal, according to a recent court filing. . As of Monday afternoon, Kartgraf had not yet done so, according to court records.
Chirisa owns 13 data centers across the United States, but the facilities are actually operated by employees of subsidiary Digital Fortress. Hayes said the companies plan to bring 30 employees to the local facility within the next 18 months.
Plans are to increase Meadowville's workforce to approximately 80 to 100 employees over the next few years.
In addition to 1401 Meadowville Technology Parkway, Chilisa also owns an undeveloped parcel at 1651 Meadowville Technology Parkway, totaling 88 acres in the industrial park.
