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Listen to this articleA slew of officials and stakeholders gathered Friday in New Brunswick to celebrate a major milestone for the HELIX (Health + Life Science Exchange) NJ project.
The topping off ceremony marked the final steel beam set atop the 12-story, 574,000-square-foot H-1 building. The structure is the first of three that will comprise a new innovation district in downtown New Brunswick.
New Brunswick Development Corp. (DEVCO) leads the project. Jingoli serves as construction partner for the $732 million H-1 component, slated for completion in 2025.
H-1 is a major piece of Gov. Phil Murphy’s strategy centered around fostering the growth of the innovation economy. It will house the new Rutgers School of Medicine, Rutgers Translational Research, The New Jersey Innovation Hub as well as other HELIX NJ partners.
Key details include:
- The 125,000-square-foot New Jersey Innovation HUB, which will provide space for innovation and startups
- New research laboratories for Rutgers’ translational research effort will provide a new home for 80 principal investigators
- The 176,000-square-foot Rutgers School of Medicine. The area will provide state-of-the-art pedagogical spaces designed to foster collaboration and community among students, faculty, clinicians and researchers
Standing on H-3
“The topping off is an opportunity to mark a milestone; to thank the members of the building trades that work on a project like this,” DEVCO President Christopher Paladino told NJBIZ. “Remind the folks in the building trades of what they are working on and how important it is. And get ready for the next phase, which will be enclosing the building. We are already putting mechanical systems in the building. And I want to get this thing enclosed in the next six months. But we got this out of the ground and got the steel up before bad weather – so we are doing good.”
Paladino said he will enjoy the milestone for a moment, but then the work continues.
DEVCO also notes that, simultaneously, H-2 is progressing through its design and planning phase. The future home of Nokia Bell Labs, plans call for the company to move into the 10-story, 350,000-square-foot facility by the beginning of 2028.
“Working on the next one — Nokia is going to break ground on Bell Labs in January,” he said. “Then, where we are standing right now – the third building – which we believe is going to be a 40-story building will break ground sometime within the next year.”
“The project is moving along really well,” Joe Jingoli, CEO of Jingoli, told NJBIZ. He noted the strong relationship between partners like DEVCO, New Brunswick and others. “Topping off is always an exciting day. But it’s also a day where we get an opportunity to bring up the decision makers, the press — everybody who’s had involvement in the project. And it gives us a chance to put out there all of our community programs, all of our social responsibility programs.”
Making progress
Opening the ceremony, Paladino noted and thanked all of the stakeholders, partners and especially the union workers – gathered in attendance – for their part in bringing the project to this point.
“Today, we celebrate a milestone,” said Paladino. “We’re hoping that today you will be re-energized and motivated when you go back to work. As you hear today, how important the work is that you’re doing. You’re building a place where the next generation of physicians will be trained; where discoveries and labs lead to cures; and where early-stage companies will move from startups to commercialization, growing the New Jersey economy.”
“On behalf of the governor, we are so excited about what’s happening here at H-1; what’s going to be happening at H-2; and I think we are standing on H-3, which will happen next,” said NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan. “And it is just an extraordinary journey.”
“This topping off ceremony represents the progress of this remarkable project and the continued growth and revitalization of our city,” said New Brunswick Mayor Jim Cahill. “H-1 is more than just a building. It’s a symbol of the commitment of the State of New Jersey, Middlesex County, and New Brunswick to innovation, sustainability and economic development. This project will bring new opportunities, stimulate innovation, and create a dynamic environment for our residents and visitors alike.”
HELIX | Construction stats
- First column: Set Feb. 5, 2024
- Workers have: assembled 5,136 tons of steel; poured 10,537 square yards of concrete
- Interior work progresses, exterior panels are scheduled to begin by the end of September
Amy Towers, chair of the board of governors at Rutgers University, said it is hard to believe that it was only 19 months ago when the group approved the school’s commitment to HELIX.
“We are so proud to be a key partner in this project – to have a beautiful new campus for our medical school and to have exceptional translational research facilities,” said Towers. “The value of which represents one of the single-largest investments in life sciences translational research in the history of our state.”
“The HELIX is among the most complicated (projects) we have ever undertaken,” said Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway. “But it’s also one of the most transformative public-private partnership projects we have been involved in.”
Public-private progress
Business leaders on-hand applauded the progress of the project. They also echoed those sentiments about the potential of partnerships to bring these types of projects to life.
“New Brunswick is a great example of how cities can turn around when there’s a public-private partnership and good political leadership,” Mike Egenton, executive vice president, Government Relations, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, told NJBIZ.
He noted how much New Brunswick’s downtown is booming. And he hopes it can serve as model to emulate in other cities around the great Garden State.
“I see New Brunswick as the perfect example of how the private sector and the public sector work together,” Egenton continued. “And today, we are celebrating a great project.”
“It’s very exciting,” Michele Siekerka, president and CEO, New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA), told NJBIZ. “The last time we were here was the hole and the vision for the future. And that’s what this takes — a long-term vision.
“New Brunswick, on the whole, is all about long-term vision,” Siekerka continued. “It’s taken decades to see the city come to where it is. And now it’s building the ecosystem that we all always talk about — the idea of bringing together academia and business and education. And it’s just an extraordinary opportunity here.”
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