By Joshua Burd
CoreWeave has started construction on a nearly $1.8 billion data center in Kenilworth with the help of what will be a five-year, $250 million tax credit award under a new state program.
The fast-growing cloud computing company, which specializes in infrastructure for artificial intelligence, announced last fall that it would build the facility at the sprawling former Merck & Co. campus on Galloping Hill Road. The planned 250-megawatt project is now advancing after the New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved the tax credit earlier this month, tapping into the Next New Jersey Program – AI program that it launched in mid-March.
According to the EDA, CoreWeave began construction in mid-September and expects the 392,600-square-foot AI data center to be operational in early 2027. That includes 108,100 square feet of new construction and a retrofit of an existing 284,500-square-foot building known as 11 NEST, part of the Onyx Equities-led property now known as the Northeast Science & Technology Center.
Livingston-based CoreWeave, an eight-year-old startup backed by the chip giant Nvidia, did not return requests for comment. But the company said earlier this year that it has a network of 33 purpose-built AI-data centers across North America and Europe, with more to come, as it looks to meet surging demand for high-performance, AI computing power.
The company joined Onyx and its partners — Machine Investment Group and Pivot Real Estate Partners — alongside Gov. Phil Murphy in October 2024 to announce that it had leased and planned to convert the former lab and manufacturing building at 11 NEST into its first New Jersey data center. This past August, CoreWeave instead purchased the facility and the adjacent 27 acres for $322 million.
“We are incredibly excited to open a next-generation data center in CoreWeave’s home state of New Jersey,” CEO and cofounder Michael Intrator said in the 2024 announcement. “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.”
In late January of this year, Murphy and Princeton University announced CoreWeave and Microsoft as founding partners of a new AI Hub that seeks to provide a state-of-the-art, flexible space designed to foster innovation in AI and advance New Jersey’s leadership in the field. That includes a $7.5 million investment by the cloud company, the EDA said, while the company has pledged a separate $25 million investment as part of a so-called collaboration agreement to partner with New Jersey-based AI startups and research entities.
“CoreWeave’s investment reinforces its dedication to advancing artificial intelligence innovation within the state,” authority CEO Tim Sullivan wrote in a Nov. 12 memo to the EDA board. “This investment will support the growth of AI research, development and commercialization, further establishing New Jersey as a leading hub for cutting-edge AI technologies. This commitment reflects the company’s sustained focus on building strategic, innovation-led partnerships that support the growth and resilience of New Jersey’s AI ecosystem.”
The $250 million tax credit award is the first under the Next New Jersey Program – AI, which is aimed at drawing significant capital investment, creating high-paying jobs and cementing New Jersey’s position as a leader in the AI industry economy, according to the EDA. Eligible businesses include those investing in large-scale AI data centers and AI-related development projects including, but not limited to, visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, translation between languages and generative AI.
Murphy signed the offering into law in July 2024, allowing the authority to leverage $500 million of uncommitted funds from the Aspire and Emerge programs that were created by the New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020.
“AI has already started to revolutionize our everyday lives, and New Jersey is capitalizing on this moment to ensure we establish ourselves as a frontrunner in generative AI innovation,” Murphy said in a prepared statement at the time of the bill signing. “The creation of this program will support the growth of AI-related businesses, which could lead to scientific breakthroughs and lifesaving discoveries right in our backyard. AI will be a transformative industry that will change lives and grow our economy, and New Jersey is ready to take the lead.”
CoreWeave, which went public earlier this year, also voiced its support for the Next New Jersey Program – AI program as the law was being enacted.
“The signing of this bill is definitive proof that New Jersey is open for AI business,” said Brian Venturo, the company’s co-founder and chief strategy officer. “This not only reinforces New Jersey’s heritage as a state of innovators but also paves the way for significant advancements and opportunities in AI development. As the AI Hyperscaler, CoreWeave is proud to be headquartered here and excited to continue driving this industry forward.”
The EDA, meantime, noted that CoreWeave’s commitment in Kenilworth represents an economic investment that “substantially exceeds” the requirements under Next New Jersey. The roughly $1.76 billion project is more than 17 times the program’s $100 million minimum threshold. And while the law establishes a minimum threshold of 100 new jobs, CoreWeave will create 143 high-quality, innovation-driven positions that exceed the required 120 percent of the county’s median salary.
CoreWeave qualifies for the maximum allowable tax credit of $50 million per year, to be issued annually over the first five years of a 10-year commitment period in which it must stay in New Jersey and maintain the associated jobs, the EDA said. The Next New Jersey – AI program will accept applications through March 1, 2029, on a rolling basis subject to available tax credits.
A.I. cloud startup CoreWeave to build $1 billion data center at Onyx’s NEST campus in Kenilworth
