VINELAND — The digital age is making itself felt in expansion plans for a private industrial park in East Vineland.

The owner of an industrial park has decided to market it as a good location for a data center complex, an unexpected but acceptable idea under local zoning and a redevelopment plan for that area.  A related conceptual plan just received city planning approval.

NEP Real Estate of Vineland NJ Urban Renewal has developed the park off South Lincoln and Sheridan avenues with close city cooperation and assistance since 2018. Owner John Ruga has concentrated his company Northeast Precast there.

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NEP owns most of the property, and its representatives presented the data center concept to the planning board on July 26.

Data centers concentrated in North Jersey

The concept, which was put together without an agreement with any end user, centers on constructing six data center buildings in phases. Given the size and complexity of the idea, the board agreed to grant final plan approval good for as long as 12 years.

The two-story data centers collectively would offer more than 2.64 million square feet of space for storage and processing work. An office building and parking garage, each four stories, would complete the buildout. There would be four building phases.

Company attorney Michael Fralinger said data centers came to occupy NEP development plans in part because they appear to have fewer potential impacts on residential neighbors. The need for data centers also is growing rapidly and likely will keep growing, he said.

Baxtel, a company that tracks data centers, reports New Jersey has at least 71 of them and almost all are in North Jersey and close to New York. There is a data center in Atlantic City.

“But in learning about data centers and their use, this property is being seen by others as being the ideal location, assuming everything comes together with it,” Fralinger said. “Which is happening.”

One complicating factor is data centers need significant cooling capability, a need often met with water-based systems. Board members questioned the ability of the Water Utility to supply enough water, given its difficulty meeting existing demand recently.

Fralinger, however, said the intent for this complex would be to use air cooling rather than water. The industry has moved away from reliance on water cooling because of cost and supply issues, he said.

“So, water now is no longer an issue for siting one of these things,” Fralinger said. “As long as you find power, and you have a modern communication network, you can site them.”

Fralinger said securing enough electrical power needs to be worked through. It is feasible just with existing supply sources serving the region, he said.

“The power exists for it,” he said. “The big question is just timing.”

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Vineland industrial park betting on data storage, processing