CoreWeave is expanding its data center footprint in New Jersey.
Reported by local press including ROI-NJ, Real Estate New Jersey, and NJ Biz, the GPU cloud firm has signed a long-term lease with an Onyx Equities and Machine Investment Group partnership for the entirety of building 11 at The Northeast Science & Technology Center (NEST) in Kenilworth, Union County.
“We are incredibly excited to open a next-generation data center in CoreWeave’s home state of New Jersey,” said CoreWeave CEO and co-founder Michael Intrator. “Governor Phil Murphy’s efforts have helped spur the creation of an AI ecosystem in the State, and CoreWeave’s announcement today underscores that New Jersey is open for AI business.”
CoreWeave plans to invest $1.2 billion in converting the 280,000 sq ft (26,010 sqm) former lab and manufacturing building into a data center. The Onyx Equities-led venture also expects to spend over $50 million on the project.
“This partnership positions the NEST campus as a major hub for data processing, AI and biopharma innovation,” said John Saraceno, a co-founder and managing principal of Onyx Equities. “CoreWeave will be a key cornerstone of NEST, as life science and biotechnology tenants at the campus will benefit from CoreWeave’s advanced cloud infrastructure to support their AI-driven projects and boost research and development capabilities.”
PSE&G will be providing power to the site and is upgrading the local infrastructure.
“PSE&G is committed to providing safe, affordable, and reliable energy to all of our customers, no matter their location or their energy requirements,” Ralph LaRossa, chair, president, and CEO of PSEG, PSE&G’s parent company, said. “This project is a good example of the work that Governor Murphy and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority are doing to foster a new wave of economic development for our state. We are excited to welcome and partner with Onyx and CoreWeave on this project.”
New Jersey-based CoreWeave already operates its US East (LGA1) region out of a data center in Weejawken, New Jersey.
“CoreWeave’s commitment to invest over a billion dollars at the NEST campus demonstrates New Jersey’s leading role in artificial intelligence, and our innovation strategies are working,” said Gov. Phil Murphy. “Through collaboration with utilities, government, investors, and real estate developers, we’re committed to attracting businesses that will build an innovation economy for the future.
The four-story leased building, known as NEST11, is part of a 108-acre, two million sq ft (185,000 sqm) life sciences campus.
Formerly the global headquarters of Merck, Onyx Equities, Machine Investment Group, and Pivot Real Estate Partners group acquired the campus from Pharma firm Merck in February 2023 for redevelopment.
The campus is powered by dual 26kV PSE&G feeds, distributed to recently upgraded on-site main substation ($50 million) and then distributed either directly or via a second sub-substation to building-level substations. The site also has a 25MW Cogen power plant, which supplies the site with electrical power and steam for heating.
Merck is due to vacate the property in phases over the next several years while its new headquarters in Rahway, completes a planned expansion.
Founded in 2004, Onyx is a full-service real estate firm specializing in investment, asset repositioning, and ground-up development.
Machine Investment Group is a real estate investment platform focused on investing in opportunistic, distressed, and special situations across the US.
Founded in 2017 and originally focused on crypto and blockchain applications, CoreWeave has invested heavily in its cloud offering, providing access to GPUs for AI applications. The company has raised $12 billion in investment and debt in the last two years and has been on a major data center leasing spree.
In the US, CoreWeave has signed leasing deals with the likes of Lincoln Rackhouse, Chirisa, Flexential, TierPoint, Digital Realty, and Core Scientific for data centers across the US, including in Texas, Virginia, Georgia, and Oregon. It has previously said it has data centers across Chicago, North Carolina, New Jersey and New York.
CoreWeave’s status page lists seven live cloud regions. The company recently said it has completed nine new data center builds since the beginning of 2024, with 11 more in progress. The company expects to end the year with 28 data centers globally, with an additional ten new data centers planned in 2025.
A joint venture between Blue Owl, Chirisa, and PowerHouse was announced in August 2024 that would see $5 billion of data centers developed for CoreWeave
The company is also expanding in Europe, with EdgeConneX in Spain and EcoDataCenter in Sweden, and is also establishing facilities in Norway and the UK.
JLL represented Onyx, Cushman & Wakefield represented CoreWeave.
