Virginia Beach: Virginia Beach's new data center park expects to draw the likes of Snapchat, IBM and Uber

A Dutch company wants to create a new data center park to draw the likes of Snapchat, IBM and Uber.

NxtVn will spend $1.5 billion to $2 billion to build a hub off General Booth Boulevard to attract companies that seek high-capacity connections from the U.S. to Europe.

The company also plans to invest in a third trans-Atlantic high-speed data cable – Midgardsormen – that would link Virginia Beach to a data center park in Eemshaven, Netherlands.

So why Virginia Beach?

The city will be the only landing point on the mid-Atlantic coast for transoceanic cables, and there’s a new demand for data centers because of them, said Economic Development Director Warren Harris. Such a hub would include buildings that house computer servers where large amounts of data are stored, providing faster internet speeds.

The first phase of development near Corporate Landing Business Park could start by the end of the year and include roughly 1.4 million square feet of buildings. It could grow and become one of the largest on the East Coast.

NxtVn would lease out space in the data center park to other businesses and would handle the licensing, permitting and zoning. Power and connectivity to the high-capacity fiber would be in place.

Source: The Virginian Pilot