Nvidia receives go ahead for new mega campus in northern Israel
The Israel Land Authority approves discounted allocation in Kiryat Tivon amid Nvidia’s sweeping expansion across the country.
The Israel Land Authority (ILA) has approved the allocation of at least 90 dunams (about 22 acres) in Kiryat Tivon to Nvidia, exempting the chip giant from a competitive tender and granting it the land at a discount. The decision marks a preliminary step toward Nvidia management’s final approval to build its new Israeli campus in the northern town.
The site, located in the northwest of Kiryat Tivon and just a few minutes’ drive from Nvidia’s offices in Yokneam, is part of a long-planned employment zone known as Campus Tivon, which currently allows for 120,000 square meters of construction. Nvidia plans to build a massive 160,000-square-meter complex designed to accommodate 8,000 employees. To do so, the company will seek expanded building rights and promote an updated development plan.
Under the agreement, Nvidia will pay reduced lease fees of 51% of the land’s value, compared with the standard ILA rate of 91%. The precise cost of the land and the company’s payment will depend on the final approved plan and the plots’ planning status. However, sources familiar with the deal estimate that the value of the benefit to Nvidia could reach tens of millions of shekels.
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In recent years, Nvidia has become Israel’s fastest-growing international employer. The company has added about 1,000 employees annually over the past two years and now employs 5,000 people across the country. By the time the new campus is completed, Nvidia is expected to surpass Intel as Israel’s largest private employer.
Today, Nvidia’s Israeli workforce is divided between two main centers: its headquarters in Yokneam, inherited from its acquisition of Eyal Waldman’s Mellanox, and its offices in the Rubinstein Twin Towers in Tel Aviv, where the company currently occupies eight floors. As recently reported by Calcalist, Nvidia has leased an additional 10 floors in the same tower, effectively taking up about half of the building’s total space.
Nvidia’s expansion in Israel extends beyond office space. The company is also constructing one of the country’s largest server farms in Ramot Menashe, spanning 10,000 square meters and representing an investment of $500 million.
