A company bearing a name familiar to longtime Valley residents has filed an application for a special-use permit to build a data center in Strasburg.
The Bernstein family, who have held and developed land in and around Strasburg for over 65 years, have filed an application for Dunmore Industrial Park, an industrial development on Borden Mowry Industrial Drive, according to a press release from the Bernstein Companies.
The first use at the park would be a data center campus, served by a new utility substation.
"Of the industrial uses this land can support, the family believes this one provides the most benefit for the town with the least impact and disruption to the community and its resources," the press release states.
The Dunmore property is a roughly 101-acre tract near Radio Station Road, south of Borden Mowery Drive and near Founders Landing. The Strasburg Town Council rezoned the land from residential to Business Park/Light Industrial in 2024.
Buildings and equipment at the industrial park would cover less than 30% of the property, leaving the balance in green space, the news release stated.
Cooling would run on a closed-loop system to maximize water efficiency and prioritize the Town’s goals of water conservation. Backup generation would meet EPA Tier 4 or better standards. The project would fund the power infrastructure it requires, including the substation, lines and upgrades.
“My father Leo Bernstein came to this valley in 1957, and Strasburg became his life’s work. Four generations of our family have supported the Town since,” Stuart Bernstein, chairman emeritus of The Bernstein Companies, stated in the news release. “We designed this industrial park the way we have designed everything else here: for the long term, to the highest standards, and with the Town in mind. This project will create hundreds of jobs and provide over $20 million a year to Strasburg schools, parks, first responders and other Town priorities.”
The land is zoned M-1 Heavy Industrial and will be developed as an industrial park. A data center campus is one of the industrial uses the site can support, and it is the use the family has applied for because it carries the lowest traffic and water demand of the industrial uses available while paying the most into the town’s budget, according to the company's news release.
A data center use requires a Special Use Permit from the Town. Most other industrial uses on the property do not.
The Bernstein Family and The Bernstein Companies have held and developed land in and around Strasburg for over 65 years.
Leo M. Bernstein kept a home on Massanutten Street so he could be near the work. He bought the old silk mill in 1979 and converted it into the Strasburg Emporium, at 60,000 square feet the largest antiques center in Virginia. He restored the historic Strasburg Inn. He opened the Museum of American Presidents, the Stonewall Jackson Museum at Hupp’s Hill, and the Jeane Dixon Museum and Library. He bought an old grist mill for $800 and gave it to the county historical association, helped restore the St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and kept Crystal Caverns, the Hupp’s Hill battlefield and the beach at the quarry open to the public, according to the company's press release.
Nearby, he reinvigorated the Wayside Inn in Middletown and dedicated the Wayside Theatre to that town, and was instrumental in bringing Lord Fairfax Community College to the area.
For over a decade, the family has hosted the Strasburg Visitor Center on Hupp’s Hill property at no cost to the town, according to the Bernstein company.
Strasburg’s zoning ordinance treats data centers as a special use within Business Park/Light Industrial.
Strasburg already has one potential data center coming to town. Project Tallmadge is a separate $4.5 billion data center campus proposed for Strasburg's industrial park.