If you’ve seen the website, or just caught wind of the talk, you’ve heard the pitch: a 158-acre campus of data centers, offices, trails, and recreation wrapped around the old quarry lake on Country Club Road, just off I-81. It’s a striking vision. So… is it happening?

Short answer, as of this writing: it’s an idea. I went looking for the city applications that would move a project like this toward reality (a rezoning, a special use permit, a comprehensive plan amendment) and I haven’t found any. What I did find is property associated with the larger quarry area currently being marketed for sale. That doesn’t make the vision fake. It makes it early. Concepts at this stage can change considerably, change hands, or take entirely different forms before anything is formally proposed or approved.

It doesn’t help that Harrisonburg has two former quarry sites in the news right now, at opposite ends of the development journey, and people mix them up constantly. So let’s sort them out, and along the way I’ll show you how to tell where any local project actually stands, because that skill is worth more than any single headline.

Map of Harrisonburg marking the two former quarry sites: the approved Quarry Heights project near West Market Street and Waterman Drive, and the concept-stage quarry site on Country Club Road near I-81

The two sites at a glance: one approved through the city’s public process, one still just a marketed concept. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

The vision on Country Club Road

The site is the former quarry along Country Club Road near I-81, known for its deep spring-fed lake. The concept being marketed for it is a mixed-use campus of data centers, offices, and recreation around the quarry lake (the kind of scene our AI-generated illustration at the top of this post imagines), and there’s a website describing that vision. To be clear: that image is our illustration of the idea, not anyone’s actual plan.

Could something like it happen someday? Sure. That’s what the public process exists to decide. One piece of context worth knowing: in early 2025, Harrisonburg updated its zoning ordinance for data centers specifically. They were previously allowed by right in industrial and certain business zones; now they’re permitted only in the M-1 industrial district and only with a special use permit. Translation: any data center proposed inside city limits gets public hearings and a City Council vote before it can happen. Whatever you think about data centers (and Virginia is having quite the conversation about them), Harrisonburg residents are guaranteed a seat at the table.

We’ll keep watching this one, and if the picture changes, you’ll read about it here.

How a project becomes real in Harrisonburg (the part worth remembering)

Every development idea, big or small, has to climb the same ladder before a shovel touches dirt:

  1. Comprehensive plan. The city’s long-range map of what should go where. Big projects often need an amendment to it first.
  2. Zoning. The land must be zoned for the proposed use. If it isn’t, the owner applies for a rezoning, a public process with hearings.
  3. Special use permit (SUP). Some uses are allowed in a zone only with an extra layer of city review and public input.
  4. Engineered site plans and permits. The technical stage: stormwater, traffic, utilities, building permits.
  5. Construction.

A project at step 4 or 5 is real. A project that hasn’t started step 1 is an idea. Maybe a great one, but an idea. The Country Club Road concept sits before step 1 today. The gap between those two can be years, and plenty of ideas never make the climb at all.

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to take anyone’s word for where a project stands. The City of Harrisonburg publishes all of it: upcoming public hearings on the city website, and every application, agenda, and vote in its public legislative records. If a project near you matters to you, ten minutes of looking beats a hundred social media comments.

Meanwhile, at the other quarry: a project that IS happening

The former Frazier Quarry site off West Market Street, across from Thomas Harrison Middle School and bordering Waterman Drive, is set to become Quarry Heights, one of the largest residential projects in Harrisonburg’s history. This is the one that climbed the whole ladder.

The short version, from the city’s public records and local reporting:

For homeowners and buyers, the practical takeaways are simple. West-side Harrisonburg will see meaningful new housing inventory arrive in phases over multiple years, not all at once. New construction at this scale tends to bring infrastructure improvements along with it. And if you own near the West Market corridor, this is the project to keep an eye on, because it’s the one with actual approvals behind it.

What this means if you’re buying or selling

And if you’re wondering what a specific project (these or any other) means for your street, your home’s value, or your timing, that’s exactly the kind of question we like. Reach out and ask. No forms, no funnel. Just send me a note or leave a comment wherever you found this post.

Sources

Details above reflect public records and local reporting as of September 1, 2026. Development plans can and do change; check the city’s public hearing notices for the latest.