The company building York County’s first data center just added hundreds of acres
QTS, the company behind a massive data center project in York County, bought more than $26 million worth of property this week near Lake Wylie. The deal more than doubles the size of the company’s holdings in the area.
The land is off Paraham Road, where the company has been working toward a $1 billion data center development for more than two years. The Herald wasn’t able to reach the company Friday for information on what the property sale means for the data center plan.
Real estate management company Walton, whose U.S. operations are based in Arizona, has owned property in the area for more than a decade. Walton lists a 677-acre property online called York Farm Master Plan that spans both sides of Paraham Road.
A company called 410 York Farms Acquisitions bought seven properties from Walton on Dec. 19 for $18.5 million, according to York County land records. They combine for more than 400 acres. QTS then bought those same seven properties from York Farm Acquisitions on Dec. 29 for $26.1 million.
Of the seven properties, only one has a listed address in county records. It’s a more than 55-acre site at 782 S. Paraham Road. All seven properties, ranging from 3 to 136 acres, are connected on the northeast side of Paraham, east of Hands Mill Highway.
The more than 400 acres sit just south of 391 acres already owned by QTS.
QTS data center in York County
In mid-2023, York County negotiated a tax incentive deal with a then-unnamed company that The Herald connected to Kansas-based QTS through property sales. QTS lists its U.S. headquarters online now as a Virginia site, but the address tied to this week’s sales is still the Kansas one.
QTS spent more than $10 million in separate deals in 2023, buying hundreds of acres both from York County and a private seller. That property centered around 2107 Hands Mill Hwy. and 5805 Campbell Road.
York County approved an incentive deal for the data center project in 2023 based on a minimum investment of $900 million and 10 new jobs within eight years. QTS would be allowed to pay a fee in place of taxes for 40 years, with a fixed millage rate and a 4% assessment rate. The company also would be allowed credits against those required payments of up to 35% in the first five years, according to the deal.
The QTS project is part of a growing number of data centers across the Charlotte region. Last spring, York County approved changes allowing data centers to be built taller, at up to 80 feet. That change came due to plans for the 5.3 million-square-foot QTS proposal at Hands Mill Highway and Campbell Road, according to county planners.
This story was originally published January 2, 2026 at 12:42 PM.
