Menlo Digital Launches 48MW Herndon Data Center for AI Workloads

Major Expansion in Northern Virginia

Menlo Equities has officially commenced construction on a significant new data center in the heart of Northern Virginia’s technology corridor, according to company announcements this week. Through its dedicated data center platform Menlo Digital, the real estate investment firm is building MD-DC1 in Herndon, Fairfax County—a strategic location that continues to attract massive infrastructure investment despite growing power constraints in the region.

The two-story, 307,000-square-foot facility will deliver 48MW of IT capacity when completed, sources indicate. Situated on nine acres at 13775 McLearen Road, the development will feature four separate 12MW data halls supported by 67MW of utility power from Dominion Energy Virginia’s Lincoln Park Substation. Industry analysts note the project timeline appears aggressive, with powered shell delivery targeted for Summer 2026.

Rebuilding for the AI Era

What makes this development particularly noteworthy is the site’s transformation. The property previously hosted a much smaller 2MW data center and office complex operated by Orange Business Services, which has since been demolished. That original building was constructed in phases between 1984 and 1989—a different technological era entirely—and featured just 28,750 square feet of data center space.

Industry observers suggest this replacement pattern is becoming increasingly common in mature data center markets like Northern Virginia, where older facilities simply can’t meet the power density requirements of modern AI workloads. The 24x increase in capacity from 2MW to 48MW demonstrates just how dramatically infrastructure demands have evolved.

“Breaking ground in Herndon represents more than a single project milestone—it’s part of a broader expansion strategy across the country,” Jane Vaughan, chief development officer at Menlo Digital, reportedly stated. “Our portfolio now spans multiple Tier 1 markets, each designed to meet the power density, sustainability, and operational requirements that define the next generation of cloud and AI workloads.”

Aggressive National Expansion

This Herndon project represents just one piece of Menlo’s much larger data center ambitions. According to industry reports, the company launched Menlo Digital earlier this year with a development pipeline totaling close to 800MW across five sites in the United States.

In Virginia alone, the company is developing three significant sites. Beyond the Herndon facility, Menlo is reportedly building a massive 144MW, 600,740-square-foot facility in Loudoun County’s Sterling area, scheduled for Q2 2028 delivery. Further south in Richmond, plans call for an even larger 300MW campus spanning 1.2 million square feet across 74 acres.

The expansion extends well beyond Virginia. In Phoenix, Arizona, Menlo is planning a 257MW campus on 38 acres, while in Sunnyvale, California—the heart of Silicon Valley—the company is developing a 49MW site. This geographic diversification appears strategically timed as power availability becomes increasingly constrained in traditional data center hubs.

Strategic Partnerships and Power Focus

Menlo’s approach to securing power resources has drawn particular attention from industry watchers. The company has reportedly partnered with energy firm NRG for future developments, with their Letter of Intent including an initial phase of 300MW that could potentially scale to over 1GW at existing NRG sites.

This focus on power availability reflects broader industry trends, as data center developers increasingly prioritize access to reliable electricity sources above all other considerations. The partnership approach may give Menlo a competitive advantage in markets where power constraints are slowing competing projects.

Founded in 1994, Menlo Equities developed its first data center in Santa Clara back in 1998 and now owns 14 operational facilities across the United States. The company’s recent acquisitions from Digital Realty—including nine facilities in 2021 and another in Georgia—suggest a deliberate strategy to rapidly scale its data center footprint through both development and acquisition.

As the demand for AI computing infrastructure continues to accelerate, industry analysts suggest we’ll see more of these legacy site redevelopments, particularly in established markets like Virginia where location advantages remain strong but older infrastructure requires complete replacement to meet modern requirements.