New Brunswick data center, New Brunswick, New Jersey

The New Brunswick City Council voted unanimously on February 18, 2026 to block a proposed 27,000-square-foot data center at 100 Jersey Avenue in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, less than two weeks after the plan became public. The council amended the redevelopment plan for the Jersey-Sandford area to remove data centers as a permitted use and restore plans for a public park.

The redevelopment area covers 22 acres of long-vacant industrial land along Jersey Avenue, from Sandford Street to Railroad Avenue. The city's planning director, Dan Dominguez, told the council the data center had been included to help carry the cost of redeveloping the site, and that administrators recommended restoring the park instead. Officials said the data center had not been finalized and would have needed Public Service Electric & Gas approval showing the utility needed it. The council voted 5-0 to amend the plan and again to adopt the ordinance.

Residents, Rutgers students and civil rights leaders packed the meeting, with dozens left outside City Hall chanting. Several speakers tied the data center to rising electric bills, and some said they had learned about it only days before the vote. A Rutgers student named Lauren said the site, near homes and the campus, raised environmental justice concerns. "I'd like to thank the council for deciding to scrap what many people did not want in their neighborhoods," said Bruce Morgan, president of the New Brunswick Area Branch NAACP.

What goes on the land now is housing, small business space and the park. The plan calls for apartment buildings totaling 660 units on the north side, 10% of them affordable, commercial use on the south side, and four acres of public park under an easement from the redeveloper. Residents pressed for 20% affordable housing; the city said it already exceeds its state obligations.

Boca Raton, Florida-based Amzak Capital Management took control of the properties at 90, 100, 120 and 298 Jersey Avenue in September 2025 through a deed in lieu of foreclosure, after the previous owners failed to repay a $27.8 million note. Neither city officials nor Amzak have said who would lead the redevelopment, and no company has been named to build on the site. The owner still has to bring a site plan to the New Brunswick Planning Board, and there is no word yet on when construction might start.