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project washington
Project has generated significant community opposition due to energy consumption concerns. Delaware House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown called on county to deny the project. Plans submitted August 2025. Would require 1.2 gigawatts of electricity - enough to power nearly twice the residential homes in Delaware. Expected to create 500-900 permanent jobs and 3,800 construction jobs.
| Investment | $10.0B |
| Power Capacity | 1.2 GW |
| Location | New Castle, New Castle County, Delaware |
| Status | Planned |
project overview
Project has generated significant community opposition due to energy consumption concerns. Delaware House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown called on county to deny the project. Plans submitted August 2025. Would require 1.2 gigawatts of electricity - enough to power nearly twice the residential homes in Delaware. Expected to create 500-900 permanent jobs and 3,800 construction jobs.
location and scale
| Location | New Castle, New Castle County, Delaware |
| Region | Northern Delaware |
| Status | Planned |
| Total Investment | $10.0B |
| Power Capacity | 1.2 GW |
| Total Area | 6.0M sq ft |
key stakeholders
| Sponsors | Starwood Digital Ventures, Starwood Capital Group, New Castle Campus Development LLC, PBF Energy |
| Operators | Starwood Digital Ventures |
investment breakdown
The $10.0 billion investment is distributed across multiple components:
| Component | Amount | Percentage |
| IT Equipment (GPUs, servers, networking) | $6.5B | 65% |
| Building and Construction | $2.0B | 20% |
| Power Infrastructure | $1.0B | 10% |
| Other (cooling, security, land) | $500M | 5% |
equipment refresh cycles
IT equipment typically requires replacement every 3-5 years, meaning:
- Initial deployment: $6.5B
- 3-year refresh: Additional $5.2B estimated
- Total over 10 years: $16.2B in equipment
infrastructure requirements
power capacity
The facility requires 1.2 GW of power capacity:
| Total Power Capacity | 1.2 GW |
| Equivalent Homes Powered | 1,000,000 |
| Annual Energy Consumption | 10,512 GWh/year |
facility specifications
| Total Area | 6.0M sq ft |
| Raised Floor Space | 4.2M sq ft (estimated) |
| Power Density | 285 W/sq ft |
sustainability and cooling
Power requirements would equal nearly twice all residential homes in Delaware; concerns raised about energy grid impact
construction timeline
| Announced | 2024 |
| Construction Start | 2026-Q3 |
| Expected Completion | 2028-Q2 |
development phases
| Phase | Description | Completion |
| Phase 1 | Six buildings, each 500,000 square feet and two stories tall | 2028-Q2 |
| Phase 2 | Three buildings at 700,000 square feet each, plus two 500,000 square foot buildings | TBD |
economic impact analysis
job creation
| Peak Construction Jobs | 20,000 |
| Permanent Operations Jobs | 240 |
| Average Salary (estimated) | 120,000 |
economic multiplier effects
The project’s total economic impact extends beyond direct investment:
| Direct Investment | $10.0B |
| Total Economic Impact (2.5x multiplier) | $25.0B |
| Estimated Annual Tax Revenue | $50M |
| 30-Year Tax Revenue | $1.5B |
regional benefits
The project brings significant benefits to Delaware:
- Supply chain development: Local suppliers for construction materials, equipment, and services
- Infrastructure investment: Improved power grid, roads, and telecommunications
- Technology ecosystem: Attracts related tech companies and talent
- Educational partnerships: Training programs and university collaborations
- Real estate development: Increased commercial and residential development
technical specifications
workload types
| Workload Type | Description |
| COLOCATION | Multi-tenant hosting and colocation services |
| HYPERSCALE | Large-scale cloud computing and storage |
strategic importance
competitive positioning
This mega-project represents a strategic investment by Starwood Digital Ventures, Starwood Capital Group, New Castle Campus Development LLC to:
- Cloud Expansion: Grow public cloud market share and regional presence
- Customer Proximity: Reduce latency for regional enterprise customers
- Service Diversity: Enable new services requiring massive compute resources
national infrastructure significance
As a mega-project (>$10B investment), this facility:
- Represents a major commitment to US technology infrastructure
- Contributes to national AI competitiveness and security
- Demonstrates Delaware’s emergence as a datacenter hub
- Sets new standards for scale and efficiency in datacenter design
regional integration
Delaware datacenter ecosystem
This project integrates into Delaware’s growing datacenter infrastructure:
- Power grid integration: Connection to regional transmission infrastructure
- Fiber connectivity: Access to major internet backbone routes
- Skilled workforce: Leverage regional technical talent and training programs
- Supply chain: Integration with local construction and equipment suppliers
community relations
Large-scale datacenter projects require strong community partnerships:
- Local hiring commitments: Priority hiring for construction and operations roles
- Educational partnerships: STEM programs and technical training initiatives
- Infrastructure improvements: Road, water, and utility infrastructure upgrades
- Tax revenue sharing: Property tax and incentive agreements with local governments
New Castle County impact
The project specifically impacts New Castle County through:
- Direct property tax revenue and economic development incentives
- Increased demand for housing, retail, and professional services
- Enhanced infrastructure that benefits broader community
- Recognition as a technology and innovation center
stakeholder analysis
project sponsors
Starwood Digital Ventures | Starwood Capital Group | New Castle Campus Development LLC | PBF Energy
operators and tenants
Primary Operators: Starwood Digital Ventures
The operators manage day-to-day facility operations including power, cooling, security, and network management.
sources and references
- Starwood files to develop 1.2GW, 11-building data center campus in Delaware - Data Center Dynamics (2025-08-05) - https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/starwood-files-to-develop-12gw-11-building-data-center-campus-in-delaware/
- Delaware City data center plans submitted, starting clock on controversial project - Spotlight Delaware (2025-08-05) - https://spotlightdelaware.org/2025/08/05/plans-for-de-data-center-submitted-starting-the-clock-on-the-controversial-proposal/
- See where Starwood Digital Holdings is planning its Delaware data center - Technical.ly (2025) - https://technical.ly/civics/delaware-data-center-project-washington-location/
- Proposed Delaware data center’s energy needs would dwarf all state households - Spotlight Delaware (2025-07-20) - https://spotlightdelaware.org/2025/07/20/proposed-delaware-data-center-energy/
- Delaware state and local officials propose regulations for data center projects - WHYY (2025) - https://whyy.org/articles/delaware-city-data-center/
- New Castle could be the site of mega data center campus - Delaware Business Times (2025) - https://delawarebusinesstimes.com/news/new-castle-data-center-campus/
related pages
analysis current as of October 2025