Global technology giant Nvidia has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to acquire a substantial plot of land in northern Israel, signaling its intent for one of the largest real estate transactions by a foreign technology company in the nation's history, Globes reported on Sunday.
According to the report, the company seeks between 70 and 120 dunams for a new research and development campus, encompassing 80,000 to 180,000 square meters of built space.
The proposed campus location falls within a strategic quadrant bordered by Zichron Yaakov to the southwest, Migdal Ha'emek to the east, Kiryat Ata to the north, and Haifa to the west. This area is noted for its potential for significant development, particularly with land being more economically viable than in central Israel.
Estimates suggest Nvidia plans to invest up to 500 million shekels in land acquisition, with an additional 1.5 billion shekels earmarked for construction, according to Globes. This substantial investment is expected to accommodate several thousand new employees, adding to Nvidia's existing Israeli workforce of approximately 5,000.
The scale of the planned construction dwarfs many recent commercial and office developments in Israel, including the Azrieli Group's Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv.
Nvidia's RFI emphasizes the need for a site with "high transport accessibility, close to main routes and public transport," indicating a preference for locations near major arteries like Highway 6 or existing railway lines connecting Tel Aviv to Nahariya via Haifa, or the Jezreel Valley railway.
Given the extensive land requirements, it is anticipated that Nvidia may engage with multiple sellers, potentially encouraging cooperative offers from groups of kibbutzim or moshavim to rezone agricultural land for industrial use.
This strategic expansion in the north builds upon Nvidia's successful acquisition of Yokne'am-based Mellanox in 2020 for $6.9 billion. Mellanox, which forms the backbone of most of Nvidia's Israeli operations, has seen its activity grow five-fold and its workforce double since the acquisition.
Nvidia offered no comment on the matter.
In January, NVIDIA revealed plans to significantly expand its research and development operations in Israel by establishing a cutting-edge research and engineering data center in the country.
Spanning 10,000 square meters and valued at approximately $500 million, this facility will be one of the largest and most advanced data center labs in the country.
Before that, the company finalized its acquisition of Israeli startup Run:ai, securing access to software designed to optimize the performance of intelligence computing hardware.