Loudoun County says Amazon will withdraw its data center application for the George Washington University campus in Ashburn it bought for $427 million, dedicate about 25 acres valued near $65 million plus $5 million for housing, and pursue a mixed-use rezoning on the rest after a zoning dispute. Memphis City Council passed a 135-day pause on new data center projects after a longer moratorium failed on a 6-6 tie, while NEXTDC shares fell about 40% as a stalled Melbourne grid upgrade cut its FY27 revenue guidance to A$475 to 500 million and froze new development. Local consent, from zoning to power poles, is now part of data center underwriting.

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Sources:
https://www.loudounnow.com/news/amazon-donates-25-acres-of-gwu-campus-to-loudoun-pledges-no-data-centers/article_d991240d-5176-4acf-ae84-f23e0dc8e2b3.html
https://wtop.com/virginia/2026/10/loudoun-county-amazon-reach-withdrawn-data-center-project-gw-campus/
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/amazon-withdraws-application-for-data-center-campus-at-gwu-site-in-ashburn-virginia/
https://fortune.com/2026/10/21/amazon-427-million-gw-campus-data-center-65-million/
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/memphis-councilors-reject-18-month-data-center-moratorium/
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/memphis-city-council-votes-down-proposed-data-center-moratorium/article_c79f6e76-c121-4651-9e8b-d2d3fee3038b.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/memphis-data-center-moratorium-city-council-vote/
https://www.marketindex.com.au/data-api/api/v1/announcements/XASX:NXT:2A1705181/pdf/inline/m3-melbourne-power-delay-revised-fy27-guidance
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/21/australia-data-center-operator-nexdc-datacenter.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-21/west-footscray-data-centre-delays-nextdc-value-asx-vic/107291744

Entergy Arkansas says Google will pay for about $600 million in grid investment plus the 440 MW Big Island solar PPA that the Arkansas Public Service Commission turned down in September, with a new PSC filing still ahead for the West Memphis data center expansion. CBRE agreed to buy data center services firm Onnec for £460 million (about $610 million) in cash plus an earnout of up to about $400 million, while a buyer for San Francisco Centre's former Bloomingdale's space has reportedly asked about data center permits after the city approved a 45-day data center moratorium. Who pays for power is now a real estate underwriting question, from utility contracts to dead-mall conversions.

Reach out to the AI Consulting Network: https://www.theaiconsultingnetwork.com/

Sources:
https://www.entergy.com/news/entergy-arkansas-announces-enhanced-partnership-at-google-west-memphis-campus-delivering-at-least-500m-in-new-savings-for-all-customers
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/google-expands-partnership-with-entergy-arkansas-will-fund-renewable-energy-and-grid-upgrades-for-west-memphis-data-center/
https://www.fox16.com/news/business/entergy-google-full-cost-partnership-bringing-new-infrastructure-to-arkansas-power-grid/amp/
https://ir.cbre.com/press-releases/detail/270/cbre-expands-critical-infrastructure-capabilities
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/cbre-acquires-data-center-services-firm-onnec/
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/downtown-mall-data-center-ai-22480545.php
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/san-francisco-shopping-mall-targeted-for-potential-data-center/
https://sfstandard.com/2026/10/20/mall-data-center-sf-downtown/
https://focalnews.org/san-francisco-ca/local/ai-infrastructure-proposal-puts-san-francisco-centres-former-bloomingdales-in-play

Developers seeking a grid hookup in Israel would post NIS 2 million (about $643,000) per megawatt under new Electricity Authority rules, while Nscale is reportedly negotiating a roughly $45 billion Anthropic deal for a second 460 MW West Virginia building after Microsoft's Essex exit. Alcoa, meanwhile, is selling part of its idle Massena East smelter site in New York to a data center developer for up to $315 million, with most of the money tied to approved power capacity. Grid access is now the asset CRE owners and lenders have to price.

Reach out to the AI Consulting Network: https://www.theaiconsultingnetwork.com/

Sources:
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/ryfbkw72gx
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/israel-to-cap-capacity-of-new-data-centers-at-200mw-report/
https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/nscale-anthropic-in-talks-for-45-billion-cloud-computing-deal-bloomberg-news-reports-4958188
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/capital-markets/nscale-anthropic-in-talks-for-45-billion-cloud-computing-deal
https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/microsoft-pulls-uk-nscale-data-135037959.html
https://news.alcoa.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2026/Alcoa-Corporation-Reports-Third-Quarter-2026-Results/default.aspx
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/alcoa-sells-new-york-aluminum-smelter-to-data-center-developer-for-315-million/