BEST OF 2025 - Development
Data centers are the goose laying the golden egg. So profound is their impact they have their own category this year. Traditional development had its day, however, delivering housing and a mystery.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Jobs and housing. These two topics drive development in a region where population growth is outstripping localities’ ability — and willingness — to come to terms with the ongoing population explosion. Such was the bottom-line story in 2025.
Buc-ee’s remains the high-profile story in the region, as Stafford continues to wrestle with whether to bring the behemoth gas-eat-and-go travel destination to the county or take a pass. The controversy stretched into its second year in 2025, with 2026 looking to be the make-or-break year.
This year is the one that finally found the region agreeing — well, most agreeing — to build a new river crossing that will connect Stafford County with Central Park. It wasn’t the only transportation-related development plan that caught the community’s attention. The city of Fredericksburg’s traffic study also found its fair share of critics.
Spotsylvania has since August been receiving feedback on its Comprehensive Plan update. And Fredericksburg created a new overlay district for data centers (more on that in a later edition.)
But it was housing that were the biggest development stories — apart from data centers — in 2025.Habitat for Humanity received a grant for a project in Mayfield, Stafford announced a new age-restricted community, while in King George the Exodus Family Institute is working to bring work-force housing to the county.
The best development story of the year, however? It was close, but based on readership, the redevelopment of the Hospital bested the “mystery grocer.”
City Approves Renovation of Medical Building into Apartment Units
By Adele Uphaus
The 30 mostly one-bedroom units would yield minimal traffic and are projected to have no impact on public schools.
Read the full story
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