Eternal Rings Data Center, Laurel, Maryland

GI Partners now owns the Eternal Rings data center at 9800 South Eternal Rings Drive in Laurel, Howard County, Maryland, after buying it from Harrison Street along with a second site in Severn for a combined $221.9 million, GI Partners announced on March 4, 2026. GI Partners' Mike Armstrong said the portfolio is 100% leased to a single user it did not name, citing "durable demand from government, defense, and regulated cloud users."

The Howard County Council unanimously passed a temporary moratorium on new data center development on June 1, 2026, running through November 2, 2027, sponsored by council member Christiana Rigby. Rigby said the county's data center zoning dates to 1993 and does not fully account for modern facilities: "We're not looking at just a ban for a ban's sake. We're saying how and where data centers will be in Howard County." Rigby said the pause will not affect existing facilities or already approved projects.

The council cannot change its zoning code until after the November 2026 election. Rigby said the pause gives the incoming council time to hear testimony and vote on a task force's recommendations, though no date has been set for that vote.