Microsoft confirms plans for 1,350-acre megasite north of Triangle. What to know.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Microsoft plans a 1,350-acre data center at Person County Mega Park in 2026.
- Company will begin permitting process this year and coordinate with county.
- Project follows prior $1 billion regional investments and national expansion.
After more than a year of speculation, Microsoft has confirmed it plans to build a new data center on 1,350 acres of land it owns in Person County.
The company expects to begin the facility’s permitting process this year, according to information Microsoft provided county spokesperson Kim Strickland.
“Datacenter projects are highly complex and typically span several years,” Strickland wrote in a Feb. 24 statement. “Requiring careful planning, design, and close collaboration with the county, local partners, and the community.”
Microsoft purchased the Person County Mega Park for around $27 million in October 2024. The site sits near the Virginia state border, about an hour’s drive north of Durham.
Though Microsoft didn’t share its reason for buying the campus at the time, many concluded the company intended to build a mammoth “hyperscale” data center. Microsoft and many of the other largest technology companies have poured money into these facilities over the past few years as they race to power advancing artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Microsoft previously committed to invest at least $1 billion to open four data centers northwest of Charlotte in Catawba County. That project stalled last year, however, as the company scaled back its global data center investments.
Promise to not raise electricity prices
Microsoft confirmed its Person County data center plans after local officials encouraged they do so in order to resolve residents’ lingering questions about the campus. The company declined to comment directly on this project in an email to The News & Observer.
According to Strickland, Microsoft promised a future data center won’t spike electricity prices or reduce water sources. The company vowed to replenish more water than it consumes in developing its Person County site, she wrote. How much resources data centers consume has been a common criticism of their development nationwide, and in North Carolina, several grassroots groups have formed to combat projects in their communities.
While some local North Carolina governments have acted to pause data center developments, Person County leaders expressed openness to Microsoft’s potential facility in statements Tuesday. “We are excited to learn more about their plans for datacenter development in our county,” county board chair Kyle Puryear wrote. “And are confident that their presence will drive economic growth and enhance community well-being through strategic investment, job creation, and responsible stewardship of resources.”
Data centers can present a tricky dynamic for rural North Carolina counties, which welcome potential property taxes from massive businesses like Microsoft, which is currently the world’s No. 4 most valuable company. Yet at the same time, these facilities employ relatively few people among their rows of server racks.
Microsoft’s campus is north of the Person County seat of Roxboro, which like the surrounding county has experienced little population change over the past 15 years.
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Microsoft confirms plans for 1,350-acre megasite north of Triangle. What to know.."
