{"comps":{"land":[{"asset":null,"buyer":"TA Realty","date":null,"mw":null,"seller":null,"type":"land_acquisition","value":61.0}],"powered_shell":[]},"hero":{"composite_score":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-27T08:31:49.689319+00:00","constraint_score":62.8,"excess_power":36.6,"iso":"PJM","lat":38.97,"lng":-77.46,"name":"STERLING","queue_wait_months":null,"slug":"sterling","state":"VA","time_to_power_mo":69.1,"time_to_power_months":69.1,"verdict":"AVOID"},"is_pro":true,"kpis":{"facility_count":165,"headline_basis":"every facility listing DC Hub tracks in this market (operational, under construction, planned and announced; verified and unverified listings included), deduplicated by name + operator across the facilities and discovered_facilities tables. MW is summed over the listings that report capacity (mw_reporting_count of facility_count), so read it as a floor.","lease_rate":null,"mw_reporting_count":68,"operational_mw":8310.0,"pipeline_mw":717.0,"queue_months":null,"top_operator":{"facility_count":51,"name":"Amazon Web Services"},"total_mw":2766.0,"unverified_included":true,"vacancy_pct":null},"live_as_of":{"age_hours":0.1,"iso":"2026-10-27T08:31:49.689319+00:00"},"ma":[{"buyer":"TA Realty","date":null,"mw":null,"seller":null,"type":"land_acquisition","value":61.0,"value_unit":"USD millions"}],"ok":true,"open_access":"Open to every caller: this is one of the 20 largest US data-center markets by tracked capacity, and its full market briefing (grid, risk, time to power, scores) is free.","operators":[{"facility_count":51,"operator":"Amazon Web Services","ranked_by":"facility_count","total_mw":2000.0},{"facility_count":16,"operator":"CyrusOne","ranked_by":"facility_count","total_mw":229.0},{"facility_count":16,"operator":"AWS","ranked_by":"facility_count","total_mw":0.0},{"facility_count":9,"operator":"Vantage Data Centers","ranked_by":"facility_count","total_mw":100.0},{"facility_count":9,"operator":"Centersquare","ranked_by":"facility_count","total_mw":25.0}],"outlook":{"generated_at":"2026-10-26T09:39:40.650969+00:00","narrative_md":"Sterling's data center market is characterized by tight power availability coupled with moderate constraint pressures, creating a structurally challenged investment environment. The tracked portfolio spans 165 facilities totaling 2,766 MW across all development stages, with Amazon Web Services commanding substantial operator share at 51 tracked sites. CyrusOne maintains a secondary position with 16 facilities. The power availability score of 36/100 reflects genuine scarcity\u2014not speculative concern\u2014while the constraint index of 62/100 signals that existing and planned capacity faces real delivery friction.\n\nThe AVOID verdict reflects a straightforward risk calculus for data-center investors and operators. A power score below 40 means incremental megawatt deployment faces material grid and interconnection headwinds; incremental deals will encounter longer lead times and higher infrastructure costs. The constraint score of 62 is neither catastrophic nor comfortable\u2014it sits in the zone where site selection becomes acutely granular and lease economics squeeze. For operators already embedded in Sterling, this signals margin pressure on renewal negotiations and caution on expansion capex. For new entrants, acquisition multiples may appear attractive precisely because power risk is priced in unevenly; that asymmetry creates downside rather than opportunity.\n\nDeal flow into Sterling has stalled entirely. No recent M&A transactions are tracked within the market boundary, despite Virginia's broader visibility as an acquisition corridor. Recent activity in adjacent Northern Virginia markets\u2014notably the Yondr Group and Cerberus 72 MW campus in Manassas\u2014underscores that capital is flowing toward markets with clearer power pathways and lower constraint friction. A $61 million land acquisition by TA Realty in Sterling and Amazon's $65 million leased data-center purchase in Virginia are semantic matches but do not reflect active Sterling-specific deal momentum. The operator roster shows no consolidation pressure or M&A integration signals; AWS and CyrusOne holdings appear static rather than in flux. This stability masks underlying weakness: absent power relief or significant rate-driven demand pullback, Sterling operator portfolios face utilization ceilings and competitive disadvantage versus less constrained regional alternatives.\n\nAbsent coordinated grid infrastructure investment or a material shift in local interconnection timelines, Sterling will remain a secondary-tier market for institutional capital deployment, most suitable for operators defending existing positions rather than building new ones.","rationale":null,"verdict":"AVOID","word_count":353},"pipeline":[{"eta":null,"facility":"Yondr Loudoun County Expansion (270 acres)","operator":"Yondr Group","power_mw":240.0,"status":"Planned"},{"eta":null,"facility":"Prime Data Centers Ashburn","operator":"Prime Data Centers","power_mw":120.0,"status":"Under Construction"},{"eta":null,"facility":"Compass Loudoun County Campus","operator":"Compass Datacenters","power_mw":100.0,"status":"Under Construction"},{"eta":null,"facility":"PowerHouse Arcola","operator":"PowerHouse Data Centers","power_mw":80.0,"status":"Under Construction"},{"eta":null,"facility":"EdgeCore Ashburn Moran Road","operator":"EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure","power_mw":57.0,"status":"Under Construction"},{"eta":null,"facility":"EdgeCore Ashburn Maries Road","operator":"EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure","power_mw":57.0,"status":"Under Construction"},{"eta":null,"facility":"Yondr Allegro North Campus (Loudoun County)","operator":"Yondr Group","power_mw":48.0,"status":"Under Construction"},{"eta":null,"facility":"Vantage Virginia Expansion","operator":"Vantage Data Centers","power_mw":15.0,"status":"Planned"},{"eta":null,"facility":"PowerHouse Pacific (Sterling)","operator":"PowerHouse Data Centers","power_mw":null,"status":"Under Construction"}],"power_grid":{"gen_additions_mw":3212.7,"interconnection_pending_mw":298078.4,"iso":"PJM","iso_queue":{"as_of":"2026-10-27","as_of_basis":"live_feed_fetch_date","basis_note":"Active serial + Transition Cycle (TC1/TC2) + Cycle 1 generation requests, sum of MFO (maximum facility output, not firm MW capacity); excludes transmission-service requests, In Service and Withdrawn. Since 2026-10-20 this total includes PJM's Cycle 1 requests, which the serial export alone did not list (that is why it rose from ~135 GW); not a PJM refresh","iso":"PJM","queue_kind":"generation_queue","queued_generation_gw":374.2,"source_name":"PJM cycle + serial service request status (active generation requests, sum of MFO)","source_url":"https://www.pjm.com/planning/m/cycle-service-request-status"},"queue_capacity_mw":71424.9,"queue_wait_months":null,"reserve_margin_pct":14.5,"time_to_power_as_of":"2026-10-27T08:31:49.689319+00:00","time_to_power_basis":"DCPI modelled months to energize a new large load in this market (method: https://dchub.cloud/dcpi/methodology); a model estimate, not a utility date","time_to_power_months":69.1},"redirect_to":null,"requested":"sterling","risk":{"drought_months_d2_plus":null,"errors":{"drought_months_d2_plus":"no_drought_source_ingested"},"water_band":3,"water_band_label":"Medium-High","water_category":"mean of 52 Aqueduct 4.0 baseline-annual basins (arid counted as ","water_stress":49.0,"wildfire_seismic_note":null},"slug":"sterling","tier":"FREE"}