Google Project Loch (Chesterfield County) data center, Midlothian, Virginia

Google's Project Loch, a three-building data center campus on 334 acres at 750 Watkins Centre Parkway in Midlothian, Chesterfield County, Virginia, is one of three Google campuses in the county, alongside Project Peanut in Chester and Project Skye on Moseley Road. The project is waiting on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit because it would be built next to Tomahawk Creek, which feeds the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Google shared its plans for the Moseley and Westchester Commons-area sites in August 2025, the same day it announced a $9 billion Virginia investment, but said they were longer-term plans that would follow the Bermuda Hundred Road project and were not part of that $9 billion. Project Peanut is already under construction, and Loch's own construction timeline depends on the permitting.

In its application, Google and its consultant Timmons Group said the site plan avoids perennial streams and resource protection areas but would affect roughly 3,000 feet of intermittent and rain-dependent streams and 4 acres of wetlands, and proposed building about 11 acres of wetlands and preserving 34.2 acres elsewhere in the South Anna River watershed. Google says it will pay for any infrastructure improvements the projects need.

Residents say Google's involvement in all three Chesterfield projects was kept under nondisclosure agreements while the Board of Supervisors approved them in public votes, and an online petition demands more accountability from the board. At Google's July 2026 open house, which drew hundreds, the company explained water and power use only in general terms. "What we are being told is incomplete information," said Mary Finley-Brook, a University of Richmond professor and Chesterfield resident.

Zach Xavier, another Chesterfield resident, said he was frustrated that he had no way of knowing whether concerns he raised individually with Google staff would be recorded or acted on.

Clover Hill Supervisor Jessica Schneider, who voted for Loch and Skye, has said she will not support any more data center rezonings in the county. With zoning approved, Loch still needs the Army Corps permit and further county approvals before construction can begin.