Huge NJ Data Center Campus Proposed

Officials in Old Bridge, N.J. are considering a proposal for a data center campus that could eventually include 1.4 million square feet of mission-critical facilities. The development firm, Deep Run Corporate Campus LLC, envisions four 350,000 square foot data centers on 300 acres of land within the Crossroads property, which is owned by Old Bridge township. The premium data center space would cost an estimated $1,000 per square foot to build, bringing the potential cost of the project to $1.4 billion.

The huge project hopes to attract Wall Street financial firms seeking backup data centers for storage and disaster recovery. Old Bridge is a Middlesex County town located about 40 miles from lower Manhattan, providing adequate distance to be unaffected by most disaster scenarios in New York, yet close enough to allow real-time data mirroring.

Deep Run is a limited liability corporation formed by David Arena, Joseph Jingoli Jr. and Joseph Ryan. Jingoli's firm is a veteran New Jersey builder with experience on utility infrastructure projects whose clients include PSE&G, the state's major power company. Arena is a brokerage industry veteran who heads the New York office of Grubb & Ellis, while Ryan works with Lehr Construction, a New York construction management firm.

The Old Bridge Redevelopment Agency, which bought the property 10 years ago, will working with Deep Run on a feasibility study that will analyze the site's electric capacity, connectivity and wetlands considerations. Jonathan Heilbrunn, an attorney for Deep Run, told the township that the developers believe the site's utility profile will support their plans.

"The market is anxious for more of these data centers," said Old Bridge Mayor Jim Phillips told the Newark Star-Ledger. "And if you're a mayor and you have a wish list, and you can have something that brings in no new school taxes, very little traffic, high tax revenue and replaces housing, it doesn't get much better than that."

But some residents are raising concerns about the project. The developers have requested a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement, which would provide a fixed tax rate that may be lower than the municipal tax rate.