Kiryat Tivon has taken over as favorite to house Nvidia’s huge new campus in northern Israel, after Kiryat Ata has dropped out of the race, and the odds have lengthened on Mevo Hacarmel, the previous favorite, after it has become clear that approval of expansion of the park will not be granted soon enough for the US chip giant.
In July, Nvidia issued an RFI (Request for Information) for land available for construction in the specific search area it defined, inland from Haifa. This will be a major campus in which Nvidia will invest about NIS 2 billion and hire thousands of employees. Publication of the RFI caused enormous excitement in the market, especially among local authorities, wanting Nvidia to choose land within its jurisdiction to build the campus. An estimated 100 proposals were submitted to Nvidia. In the months since the RFI was issued, many possible sites for construction of the campus were mentioned.
Four locations emerged as the most likely to house the campus. Kiryat Tivon, Mevo Carmel Industrial Park, Kiryat Ata and Nesher. "Globes" has learned that the list has been further whittled down. Kiryat Ata and Nesher have dropped out of the picture, while Kiryat Tivon has now emerged as favorite, even though many still consider Mevo Carmel Park to be the leading candidate.
Land in Nesher: Was the proposal just to antagonize others?
The Kiryat Ata municipality's proposal included land in a new neighborhood planned to be built in the city, as part of the TML/1025 plan, which offers, among other things, extensive commercial and employment areas. Nesher's proposal was the only one among the finalists that also included private land as well as government land: 45 acres on which 120,000 square meters of commercial and offices can be approved for construction.
Both of these proposals appear to be non-starters. Some market sources even claim that the Nesher Municipality's proposal, despite having many advantages, mainly in the form of saving bureaucracy and time, was never realistic, and even defined it as "a scam." Nvidia officials did examine the proposal in practice and came to the site themselves to examine it. But there are sources threatening to take legal action if the state grants Nvidia land at a discount and without a tender.
The Nesher Municipality said, "Clal, which submitted the proposal for the land in Nesher, is in ongoing contact with Nvidia executives regarding the proposal. Nvidia representatives even visited the site and the company was asked to conduct land inspections and submit a purchase offer, which contradicts the claim that the proposal had no chance.
Mevo Hacarmel: "The leading candidate" is not ready
According to recent developments, only two locations remain in contention: the Mevo Carmel Industrial Park and the new employment zone planned in Kiryat Tivon, Tivon Tech. Surprisingly, it is the employment zone in Tivon that is currently emerging as the leading option.
Why? Mainly for one reason. In the RFI published by Nvidia, the company explicitly wrote that it was looking for land with an urban development plan for offices or knowledge-intensive industry, "vacant and available for immediate construction." An investigation conducted by "Globes" has found that the plan to expand Mevo Carmel Park, which is the plan that is ostensibly most suitable for the requirements of the international chip giant, has not yet been approved and is in fact only in the initial stages of review.
The expansion plan is under the authority of the District Committee, and it proposes enlarging the park by 145.75 acres, on which it will be possible to build, among other things, 459,075 square meters designated for industry - including production plants for advanced industry, R&D institutes, and more. However, the plan was only accepted by the District Committee at the end of September, and so far has only passed the most initial stage on the way to approving the plan - meeting the threshold conditions for its advancement. It will take a long time for the plan to be approved and permit the land to be available for construction - one of the main criteria in Nvidia's demands.
The Megiddo Regional Council, within whose jurisdiction the Mevo Carmel Industrial Park is located, hopes that the regional committee will quickly approve the plan, but given the current rate of approval of plans in Israel, it may already be too late. In any case, sources familiar with the details point out that in the existing area of the Mevo Carmel Park, within the approved and valid urban development plan for the complex, there are 18.75 acres of vacant land that under development, and several buildings that are empty and not yet occupied. These could suit Nvidia despite everything.
In this park, Nvidia's first large data center in Israel was built, at an investment of more than $500 million with a capacity of 30 megawatts.
Nvidia is currently planning, according to industry estimates, the construction of a second data center for AI processing on site, which would double the scale of its activity, and would perform AI processing with an electrical capacity of 64 megawatts. Both data centers will be used by Nvidia and are not expected to be opened to industry or academia. Their potential cumulative electrical capacity, 100 megawatts, would turn the cluster of data centers in Mevo Carmel into the most powerful in terms of AI computing power in Israel, when the project is implemented.
Park "on the small side" for Nvidia's requirements
The leading candidate for housing Nvidia's new development center is now Kiryat Tivon. A new office park, Tivon Tech, planned for Kiryat Tivon, was not initially seen as a candidate, but entering the final stretch it has become the strongest contender, given the fact that Mevo Carmel Park may not receive planning permission anytime soon. Moreover, Nvidia executives have a special attachment to Kiryat Tivon, since many of them live there, including Amit Krig, head of Nvidia's development operations in Israel.
But here too, there seems to be a significant problem with the park, which is "on the small side" for Nvidia's requirements, as it occupies 22.5 acres (Nvidia defined an area of 17.5-30 acres in its application) and can offer up to 120,000 square meters on the entire campus (Nvidia is requesting building rights for 80,000-180,000 square meters). Furthermore, a transport center is also planned for the park, on an area of about 3,000 square meters, and 11,000 square meters in the plan are defined as commercial space. This means that Nvidia will occupy most of the campus, and possibly all of it. But more importantly, it is not certain that it would be able to expand the campus if it wishes, unless a new expansion plan is advanced, the approval of which would take a long time.
All along, market sources have estimated that Nvidia will ultimately decide to buy land in two separate locations, from the many offers submitted to it following the RFI, an assessment that could explain why Kiryat Tivon is still considered a leading candidate. The two sites - Tivon and Mevo Carmel - are located a few minutes' drive from each other along Road 6, as well as from the existing Nvidia Israel headquarters in Yokneam. They are close to high-voltage lines, as well as the David Levy power plant complex between Elyakim and Zichron Yaakov - a proximity that is important for operating large data centers for AI processing.
On the other hand, Nvidia only recently announced a move to expand in Beersheva, by moving its R&D center there to new 3,000 square meters offices in the Gav-Yam Negev Park - three times the size of the company's current offices in the city. This is to prepare for a major recruitment drive for students and graduates of Ben Gurion University, as well as to absorb the graduates of the IDF Intelligence Corps who will move south to its new base. The company also has offices in Tel Aviv, Ra'anana, Yokneam, Mevo Carmel and Tel Hai, and it is possible that one new lot of land in the north will satisfy all Nvidia’s needs in Israel for the time being.
No comment has been forthcoming from Nvidia.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 27, 2025.
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