Virginia Beach: Virginia Beach City data center redevelopment faces delays

A Virginia Beach City data center construction project is facing delays after design enhancements have postponed plans by several months. These plans include relocating the Virginia Beach Municipal Center's data center to the building’s third floor will now be delayed by seven months. 

First reported by 13NewsNow, completion of Building 2 at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center is expected for 2022. This is also the location of a 2019 mass shooting committed by DeWayne Craddock, who killed 12 people.

A city document outlines the following: “A change order was negotiated to modify the data center equipment racks, install power distribution units, and make needed changes to the server room’s heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems. These changes extended the contract schedule by 7 months.”

The cost of renovations was initially estimated to be around $26 million. Earlier this year, Virginia Beach Facilities Construction and Design Director Shawn Rockwell told the local press that the renovation was like a “fresh start” for the community following the shooting. He added: “It was tragic... Given this decision to bring people back into the building, it’s just very important to us that we’re doing it right.”