Avaya pitches Appomattox Data Hub; developers say campus will fund its own substation and limit water use

Avaya representatives and local economic development officials presented plans for the proposed Appomattox Data Hub — a multi‑building data center campus on EDA‑owned industrial land — at a public information hearing. John D'Alessio, a principal with Avaya, said the company plans six roughly 300,000‑square‑foot buildings in three clusters and that phase 1 will include a 10‑acre substation yard and the electrical infrastructure needed to serve the campus, all paid for by the developer.

Why it matters: Avaya said the campus will create construction jobs, permanent operations roles and new tax revenue for Appomattox County. The company estimated roughly 30–40 direct full‑time jobs per operating building and projected that the first building could yield $10–20 million a year in new tax revenue; Avaya said the full campus could produce more than $65 million annually once built out. The developer also emphasized that it will build dedicated power and fiber infrastructure and that water use will be limited by modern, air‑cooled technology.

Details from presenters: Dr. Quentin Johnson, president of Southside Virginia Community College, described the college's data‑center training programs developed in partnership with Microsoft and said those programs have produced local hires with starting salaries he cited as "between $65,000 and $71,000" for some entry‑level hires. Johnson said community colleges are a key pathway for certifications that support data center employment.

Bruce Marharth, identified in the meeting as chief operating officer of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative, told attendees that utility practice for large, dedicated customers is for those customers to pay for dedicated facilities (transformers, substations) and to be billed under state‑approved large‑power rate schedules. "Any customer that requires facilities to be built that are dedicated to that customer only, they pay the cost of the facilities to be built," he said, adding that ongoing operation and maintenance costs are handled through regular billing to the customer.

Avaya's presentation said the campus design accounts for a Williams Transco natural gas pipeline bisecting the site by keeping occupied structures at least 660 feet from the pipeline and that fiber amplifiers already routed along the corridor give the campus strong connectivity options. On water, Avaya said the EDA allocated a fixed water contract to the tech park when it acquired the site in 1998 and that the campus build would use less than a third of that allocation; Avaya compared the water use of a building to roughly the equivalent of 15 homes and said it would use air‑cooled systems rather than evaporative cooling.

What was not resolved or remains to be provided: Several figures presented are project estimates provided by Avaya (jobs, per‑building tax revenue and total campus revenue) and come from developer studies; they are projections rather than final, binding commitments. The meeting record also includes an itemized local invoice listing that appeared in the agenda as "Town of Aetnaq" for $116.35; the transcript's second bill line and its amount were unclear in the recording and are reported here as transcribed. Questions submitted by the public in advance will be answered later by topic, according to the chair.

Next steps: Avaya said it has submitted a site plan for the first building and that the substation and associated park utilities will be constructed as part of phase 1. The EDA will continue routine review and will forward formal recommendations and any planning approvals through the county processes. The public was told that additional written questions will be answered by topic after the meeting.