CoreWeave, one of the most important AI companies in the country, 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 in Kenilworth, better known as the NEST, ROI-NJ has learned.
CoreWeave plans to convert the 280,000-square-foot former lab and manufacturing building into a state-of-the-art data center.
CoreWeave also plans to invest $1.2 billion, and the Onyx Equities-led venture expects to spend over $50 million on the project, which will become CoreWeave’s first data center in New Jersey.
Gov. Phil Murphy obviously was thrilled.
“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,” he said. “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.
“This new data center will fuel our state’s leadership in innovation.”
Murphy thanked PSE&G, Kenilworth Mayor Linda Karlovitch, the development team at Onyx Equities, Machine Investment Group and CoreWeave.
PSE&G will be readying the area’s electrical infrastructure to support the energy needs of the data center facility in Kenilworth. PSE&G currently serves over 30 large data centers.
“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.”
CoreWeave CEO and co-founder Michael Intrator said the now Roseland-based company is glad to be staying in New Jersey.
“We are incredibly excited to open a next-generation data center in CoreWeave’s home state of New Jersey,” he said. “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 2023, CoreWeave more than quadrupled its data center footprint and is on track to end the year with 28 data centers globally.
John Saraceno, co-founder and managing principal for Onyx Equities said this partnership positions the NEST campus as a major hub for data processing, AI, and biopharma innovation.
“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,” he said.
The building CoreWeave will occupy, 11 NEST, is part of the 100+ acre, 2M SF campus that is purpose-built and zoned for life science innovation and data centers, answering a need for immediately available, turn-key, and customizable office, laboratory, and bio-manufacturing space in the tri-state area.
Formerly the global headquarters of Merck, the Onyx Equities, Machine Investment Group, and Pivot Real Estate Partners group acquired the campus February 2023 and have since begun work to develop it into a hub of research and innovation in the Northeast region of the United States.
