Slated for completion in late 2025, the first phase of the Health + Life Science Exchange in downtown New Brunswick will span 574,000 square feet with an incubator known as the New Jersey Innovation HUB, a new home for the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a center for translational research. — Rendering courtesy: JLL
By Joshua Burd
The team behind the sweeping Health + Life Science Exchange campus in New Brunswick is seeking tenants for a group of prebuilt laboratory and office suites, part of a 574,000-square-foot building that’s slated to open later this year.
Brokers with JLL are now marketing the five spaces, which will range from 3,500 to 9,500 square feet and offer a move-in-ready, state-of-the-art environment equipped with mobile casework, biosafety cabinets or chemical fume hoods, central compressed air, vacuum and CO₂ services and modern office furnishings. That will allow life sciences and technology startups to conserve capital that would otherwise be spent on facilities, the leasing team said, while they’ll have access to an array of shared services, programs and amenities aimed at streamlining operations, spurring innovation and promoting collaboration.
The plug-and-play suites will occupy the 10th floor of what’s known as H1, the first phase of the Health + Life Science Exchange or HELIX project by New Brunswick Development Corp., according to a news release. The spaces will also connect to the ninth-floor incubator known as known as the New Jersey Innovation Hub, while tenants will be directly across from the upgraded and expanded New Brunswick train station.
“Today’s high-growth innovators need more than just space — they need a dynamic platform of services, shared spaces, amenities and programming — they gravitate toward vibrant environments,” said JLL Executive Managing Director Dan Spero, who is leading the marketing campaign with Senior Managing Director Jason Benson and Vice Chairman Dan Loughlin. “These prebuilt lab suites reduce capital outlay and design timelines while delivering premium infrastructure, connectivity to top-tier institutional partners and an amenity-rich environment that enables companies to scale efficiently without administrative drag.”
H1, which will be completed by late 2025, will also house the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a facility for what’s known as translational research. It’s part of a planned 1.5 million-square-foot campus at Albany and Spring streets that will also include a second phase — a 10-story, 350,000-square-foot office and research tower for Nokia Bell Labs — and a third building with office space for Rutgers School of Engineering’s Wireless Information Network Laboratory, prebuilt wet and dry lab space, purpose-built housing for 98 Rutgers medical students and 265 market-rate and affordable residential units.
Portal Innovations will operate the New Jersey Innovation Hub, where tenants will benefit from shared lab facilities such as tissue culture rooms, microscopy equipment and cold storage, the news release said. Plans also call for a vivarium managed by Rutgers, while tenants can leverage HELIX’s flexible conferencing and event capabilities, including large-format meeting space at the base of H1 and collaborative zones throughout the campus.
Meantime, JLL said targeted programming and networking events will create opportunities for collaboration across industry and academia.
“With its curated ecosystem in a vibrant university town, strategic partnerships, and high-spec lab infrastructure, the NJ Innovation Hub at HELIX sets a new standard for ready-to-go lab and office space in New Jersey’s growing innovation economy,” said Christopher Paladino, Devco’s president. “We are excited to work with JLL and our partners to launch the innovation center.”
The New Jersey Innovation Hub brings together key partners including the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, RWJBarnabas Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, Devco, Rutgers University and Middlesex County, which will cohabitate on the ninth, 10th and 11th floors with teams that will support venture creation and technology transfer. JLL is collaborating with Devco, Portal, the EDA and Choose New Jersey to market the new prebuilt units to companies seeking a dynamic and cross-functional environment that can help fuel commercialization.
“The New Jersey Innovation Hub at HELIX fills a critical gap in our state’s innovation economy, delivering ready-to-use lab space, targeted programming and a vibrant network that startups, spinouts and global companies entering the U.S. market increasingly demand,” said Rachel Cohen, senior business development officer at Choose New Jersey. “This project reflects New Jersey’s commitment to supporting high-growth ventures with the infrastructure and resources they need to thrive.”
