World's Largest Data Center Campus On Verge Of Collapse After Blackstone Unexpectedly Pulls Out \| 黑石集团意外撤资后，全球最大的数据中心园区濒临崩溃Up until now, when it comes to real estate, Blackstone was best known in recent years for dumping many of its trophy office properties - which in the aftermath of work from home never recovered their projected cash flow potential - at a huge discount. Now, it may be pulling a page from its old, pre-Lehman playbookby calling the top in yet another commercial real estate segment: data centers. 到目前为止，在房地产领域，黑石近年来最为人所知的是大幅折价出售了许多标志性办公物业——这些物业在居家办公兴起后，再也未能恢复其预期的现金流潜力——以巨大折扣。现在，它可能正在借鉴其雷曼兄弟危机前的旧策略，宣称另一个商业地产领域——数据中心——已达到顶峰。 Two days ago we reportedthat Blackstone was selling its stakes in a trio of data centers across Northern Virginia for $3.5 billion, cashing out of part of a bet it made less than three years ago. According to Bloomberg, Digital Realty Trust would pay $1.2 billion of cash and offer $2.3 billion of its shares (which the PE giant has largely cashed in by now) to Blackstone funds; in exchange, the data center company will acquire Blackstone’s 80% interest in two 96-megawatt data centers in Manassas, Virginia, and a 50% interest in a 96-megawatt center in nearby Sterling. 两天前我们报道称黑石集团正以35亿美元的价格出售其在北弗吉尼亚州的三个数据中心的股份，这是它不到三年前下注的一部分套现。据彭博社报道，数字房地产信托公司将向黑石基金支付12亿美元现金，并提供23亿美元的股份（这家私募巨头目前已基本套现）； 作为交换，数据中心公司将收购黑石集团在弗吉尼亚州马纳萨斯的两个96兆瓦数据中心80%的权益，以及附近斯特林一个96兆瓦数据中心50%的权益。 We said that " the question is why did Blackstone decide to pull the cord now, just as fresh doubts are creeping whether the Mag 7s will continue funding the AI expansion with virtually unlimited capex. " 我们说过“问题在于，为何黑石集团现在决定采取行动，而此时人们对‘七大科技巨头’是否会继续以近乎无限的资本支出为AI扩张提供资金的疑虑正悄然浮现。” Two days later we have an answer. 两天后我们得到了答案。 The digital ink is barely dry on its Virginia data center sales, and we learn that Blackstone’s QTS ( QTS Realty Trust ) is again quietly fading its AI exposure by walking away from plans to build its portion (which at this point is the only portion left after its partner already pulled out days ago) of a 2,100-acre data center campus in Virginia - also known as Prince William Digital Gatewaywhich would house as many as 37 data-center buildings - handing a win to residents who fought for years to topple the project. 弗吉尼亚数据中心的销售墨迹未干，我们就得知黑石集团旗下的QTS（QTS Realty Trust）再次悄然减少其AI业务，放弃了在弗吉尼亚州建设一座2100英亩数据中心园区的计划（目前，其合作伙伴几天前已退出，这部分是仅存的部分），该园区也被称为威廉王子数字网关，最多可容纳37座数据中心建筑，这让多年来一直反对该项目的居民取得了胜利。 ![]() QTS's proposed facility at 9400 Godwin Drive in Manassas QTS拟在马纳萨斯戈德温大道9400号建设的设施 The data center developer had planned to transform more than 800 acres in Northern Virginia’s Prince William County, a project that would have spanned 22 million square feet, making it the largest data center campus in the world. Located on the edge of an historic Civil War battlefield and on what used to be land protected from development, the project ignited strong pushback from homeowners and has been stalled by lawsuits. 数据中心开发商原计划改造弗吉尼亚州北部威廉王子县超过800英亩的土地，该项目占地2200万平方英尺，将使其成为世界上最大的数据中心园区。该项目位于一处历史悠久的南北战争战场边缘，且地处曾经受开发保护的土地上，引发了业主的强烈抵制，并因诉讼而陷入停滞。 As part of Wall Street’s broader push into data centers, investment has poured into Northern Virginia, which is considered the country’s largest data center market, and is better known as " Data Center Alley " 作为华尔街更广泛进军数据中心行动的一部分，投资大量涌入弗吉尼亚州北部，该地区被认为是美国最大的数据中心市场，也被称为“数据中心走廊” ![]() But in a strategic U-turn, in recent days QTS executives decided that it isn’t worth pressing forward in court , the Bloomberg sources said. The firm’s attorneys plan to inform the court of their decision as soon as this week, the people said, asking not to be named discussing non-public information. 但在最近几天的一次战略大转弯中，QTS的高管们决定不值得在法庭上继续推进，彭博社的消息人士称。知情人士表示，该公司的律师计划最早在本周向法庭通报他们的决定，这些人士要求匿名讨论非公开信息。 QTS’s rapid growth has made it a poster child of how private equity has fueled the data center industry’s breakneck expansion. Those ambitions are colliding with public anxiety over strains to electricity grids and home prices from AI data centers. QTS的迅猛发展使其成为私募股权如何推动数据中心行业飞速扩张的典型代表。这些雄心壮志正与公众对AI数据中心给电网和房价带来的压力的担忧发生碰撞。 The retreat may be the final blow to Virginia’s “Digital Gateway” project, a mega site roughly twice the size of New York’s Central Park with city-sized power needs. The initiative was supposed to bring in some $100 billion in spending and create one of the world’s largest technology corridors. Not any more. 此次退缩可能是对弗吉尼亚州“数字门户”项目的致命一击，该项目是一个巨型场地，面积约为纽约中央公园的两倍，有着城市规模的电力需求。该计划原本预计带来约1000亿美元的投资，并打造全球最大的科技走廊之一。但现在已无法实现。 The project had sparked contentious, drawn-out public hearings. A clerical blunder related to a key zoning meeting created setbacks for developers. Already, Brookfield-backed Compass Datacenters, which was supposed to build on more than 800 acres at the site, had pulled out in May . 该项目引发了激烈且旷日持久的公开听证会。与一次关键分区会议相关的文书错误给开发商带来了挫折。原本计划在该地块800多英亩土地上进行建设的、由布鲁克菲尔德支持的Compass Datacenters已于5月退出。 The U-turns by both firms, Bloomberg writes, amount to one of the most dramatic retreats by developers from a data center project. 彭博社写道，两家公司的掉头之举堪称开发商从数据中心项目中最戏剧性的一次撤退。 It’s a reminder of how tech firms’ race for the computing infrastructure to support AI advances is increasingly facing the same bottlenecks, from power shortages to supply crunches, we have been warning about for the past two years and which Citadel Securities warned about just yesterday. Organized opposition is mounting, forcing firms and developers to be more deliberate about where they choose to build. This is precisely what we warned one year ago would happen as more grassroots organizations pushed back against the relentless data center rollout. At least we haven't gotten to the arson stage (yet). 有组织的反对声浪日益高涨，迫使企业和开发商在选择建设地点时更加谨慎。这正是我们一年前就警告过的，随着更多基层组织对数据中心的大规模建设进行抵制，这种情况必然会发生。至少（目前）我们还没发展到纵火的阶段。 To account for the costs of such build outs, Virginia recently passed a budget with an energy consumption tax on data centers, and more states are threatening moratoriums on new development. Data centers - and how their costs and benefits are shared - are now emerging a major swing issue in the lead up to the US midterm elections. These hurdles raise questions for investors over whether the AI build out can keep going at this pace. 为了弥补此类建设的成本，弗吉尼亚州最近通过了一项对数据中心征收能源消费税的预算案，更多州则威胁要暂停新的开发项目。数据中心及其成本和收益的分担方式，如今已成为US中期选举前的一个主要摇摆议题。这些障碍让投资者对AI建设能否以这样的速度持续推进产生了疑问。 For community organizers and residents that spent the last five years opposing the Digital Gateway, QTS’s pullout will now validate a playbook that involved pressure campaigns on local politicians and legal attacks. It will also unleash even more powerful blowback nationwide against these unwanted developments. 对于过去五年一直反对数字网关项目的社区组织者和居民来说，QTS的退出现在将证明一种策略的正确性，这种策略包括对当地政客的施压行动和法律攻击。这也将在全国范围内引发更强大的抵制，反对这些不受欢迎的开发项目。 As Bloomberg recalls, hundreds of proponents and critics showed up at a 27-hour zoning hearing in 2023 to lobby authorities on the project. After county officials narrowly voted to approve the conversion of agricultural and semi-rural land for data centers, community organizers and residents pursued lawsuits. 据彭博社回忆，2023年，数百名支持者和批评者出席了一场长达27小时的分区听证会，就该项目向当局进行游说。在县官员以微弱多数投票批准将农业和半农村土地转为数据中心用途后，社区组织者和居民提起了诉讼。 The outcome of the meeting - and whether the county properly advertised the event - was at the center of legal challenges. The lawsuits hinged on one detail: The first two newspaper notices publicizing the hearing weren’t separated by at least six days, as state and local codes required at that time. While it is unclear if Blackstone agents had tried to "grease" the zoning board's palms to quietly fast-track the data center, in the end the outcome was catastrophic to the builders. 会议的结果——以及该县是否对该活动进行了适当宣传——成为法律挑战的核心。这些诉讼的关键在于一个细节：宣传听证会的前两则报纸公告没有像当时州和地方法规要求的那样，间隔至少六天。虽然目前尚不清楚黑石集团的代理人是否试图“贿赂”分区委员会，以悄悄加快数据中心的审批流程，但最终的结果对建设方来说是灾难性的。 In March, Virginia courts upheld an earlier ruling that the zoning approvals were invalid because the public notices for the meeting fell short of rules. 3月，弗吉尼亚州的法院维持了一项早期裁决，即分区规划审批无效，因为会议的公共通知不符合规定。 ![]() Opponents of the Digital Gateway data center project rallies at Manassas Battlefield Park. 数字网关数据中心项目的反对者在马纳萨斯战场公园集会。 “While we still believe this project offered significant benefits for the region and our neighbors, recent legal actions and compounding regulatory hurdles have effectively closed a viable path forward,” Compass Datacenters President AJ Byers said in a statement following the ruling. “尽管我们仍然认为这个项目为该地区和我们的邻邦带来了显著的益处，但近期的法律行动和日益复杂的监管障碍实际上已经阻断了一条可行的前进道路，”Compass Datacenters总裁AJ Byers在裁决后的一份声明中表示。 After Compass bailed on the project, that left QTS as the lone developer. It was the only party that petitioned for an appeal of the case in Virginia’s Supreme Court. 在康帕斯退出该项目后，QTS成为了唯一的开发商。它是唯一向弗吉尼亚州最高法院申请上诉该案件的一方。 Originally, the firm’s executives were concerned about the prospect of setting a legal precedent on the back of an administrative oversight. After Compass’s retreat, QTS lost a partner who would share the costs of upgrading various utilities needed for the massive developments, said one of the people familiar with the matter. QTS decided it was not worth proceeding with the project. 最初，该公司的高管们担心因行政疏忽而开创法律先例。一位知情人士表示，在康帕斯退出后，QTS失去了一个能分担大规模开发所需各种公用事业升级成本的合作伙伴。QTS认为继续推进该项目已不值得。 Blackstone, which acquired QTS in 2021, is a major financier of data centers, with a portfolio of more than $150 billion of such assets around the world . 黑石集团于2021年收购了QTS，是数据中心的主要投资方，在全球拥有超过1500亿美元的此类资产组合。 The increasingly bitter political and grassroots pushback against new data center construction explains why Blackstone has been getting cold feet just as the AI bubble is peaking, first selling existing data centers and now walking away from upcoming projects . A recent Gallup pollfound that 7 in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half, 48%, who are strongly opposed. Barely a quarter favor these projects, with 7% strongly in favor. 政治层面和基层对新建数据中心的抵制日益激烈，这也解释了为何黑石集团在AI泡沫达到顶峰之际临阵退缩，先是出售现有数据中心，现在又放弃了即将上马的项目。盖洛普最近的一项民意调查发现，十分之七的美国人反对在当地建设AI数据中心，其中近一半（48%）强烈反对。只有四分之一的人支持这些项目，其中7%强烈支持。 ![]() Half of opponents mention data centers’ excessive use of resources, including 18% each mentioning their use of water and energy. Sixteen percent mention a related environmental concern of pollution, including noise pollution and air and water pollution. 一半的反对者提到数据中心过度使用资源，其中各有18%的人提到其对水和能源的使用。16%的人提到了相关的环境污染问题，包括噪音污染、空气和水污染。 About one in five opponents are concerned with the impact on local quality of life, including increased population, increased traffic and preferring that the land be used for other purposes. A similar share mention potentially negative economic consequences, including higher utility bills, cost-of-living increases, and the cost of building the data centers (which could involve the use of taxpayer funds). 大约五分之一的反对者担心对当地生活质量的影响，包括人口增加、交通拥堵，以及希望土地用于其他用途。类似比例的人提到了潜在的负面经济后果，包括水电费增加、生活成本上升，以及建设数据中心的成本（这可能涉及使用纳税人资金）。 Most of the remaining opposition stems from general or specific concerns about artificial intelligence. 其余大部分反对意见源于对人工智能的普遍或具体担忧。 Blackstone, which manages more than $1.3 trillion, bills itself as the largest global provider of data centers , and also owns some of the utilities that power them. It acquired QTS in 2021 and bought Australian computing provider AirTrunk in 2024. In May, the firm held an initial public offering for Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust Inc., its data center acquisition vehicle, which aims to buy already built and leased properties benefiting from the artificial intelligence boom. 管理着超过1.3万亿美元资产的黑石集团，自称是全球最大的数据中心供应商，还拥有一些为数据中心供电的公用事业公司。该集团于2021年收购了QTS，并于2024年收购了澳大利亚计算服务提供商AirTrunk。今年5月，该公司为其数据中心收购工具黑石数字基础设施信托公司（Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust Inc.）进行了首次公开募股，该公司旨在收购受益于人工智能热潮的已建成并已出租的物业。 And now that the protest movement knows how to push back against uninvited Wall Street occupants, thanks to the BlackStone capitulation, expect an exponential increase in legal (and other) attempts to hinder the rollout of data centers across the US, assuring that the AI supercycle, which is already years behind schedule with just half of the data centers meant to be built in progress and on time, will expect to see an avalanche of delays and cancellations assuring that the return on debt-funded capex will be even less as eventual launch dates gradually move ever further into the unknown future. 现在，由于黑石集团的让步，抗议运动已经知道如何抵制不请自来的华尔街势力，预计在US各地，旨在阻碍数据中心建设的法律（以及其他）行动将呈指数级增长，这将确保AI超级周期（目前仅一半计划建设的数据中心按计划进行，且已比原计划落后数年）面临大量的延误和取消，从而保证债务融资的资本支出回报将更低，因为最终的推出日期将逐渐推迟到更加未知的未来。
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