Compass Investments

– Tuesday, March 3, 2026. The George Washington University (GW) just sold its science and tech campus in Virginia, selling it to Amazon Data Services for $427 million to erect a data center for AI.

As The GW Hatchet reported, citing real estate documents, the deal was $427,299,350 for 122 acres (roughly $3.5 million per acre). The documents include a permit to build an information or data center on the land.

This is due to the fact that in Northern Virginia, land value is now determined more by proximity to fiber optic lines and power sources than to classrooms.

GW said the sale is part of a broader plan to strengthen GW’s long-term financial sustainability and increase investment in our educational mission and enrollment, while acknowledging that the university still faces a budget shortfall.

The endowment will reportedly be used to establish an endowment fund to support research, teaching and scholarship.

The university has been allowed to keep some programs on campus for up to five years, a practical compromise. Moving labs and lecture halls is not a quick process, but it also reflects the new situation in Northern Virginia’s construction industry: even a major buyer like Amazon has to work within the timeframes agreed to by permitting, county and local officials.

This era of AI infrastructure development is not so much about AI is going to turn everything upside down as it is about land contracts, timetables for transferring ownership, and a region deciding – again – how much of the Internet it is willing to host.

For Amazon, the purchase fits seamlessly into their long-standing expansion strategy in Virginia, which is becoming more apparent with each passing quarter.