(I went to New Brunswick on a Tuesday, which was a NJ Transit fare holiday).
Just walk out onto Easton Avenue from New Brunswick Station and you'll hear a sound that will blow your mind.
Hear that! That's the sound of construction looming on New Brunswick's skyline as HELIX, a $731 million, three-building complex with 1.5 million square feet of lab, office and residential space, makes its debut.
The first tower will be the new home for the Faculty of Medicine on the New Brunswick campus. It will combine modern educational spaces for learning, training, experimentation and discovery. A translational research facility with laboratories will facilitate the work of 80 research teams, and an innovation hub will support economic growth, entrepreneurship and business incubation. It is hard to imagine a more fertile environment for science, learning and career development.
The development of HELIX, the Health + Life Sciences Exchange, and the nearby $49 million upgrade to New Brunswick Station will bring about major changes to every aspect of life in the region. Below is an overview of the projects.
The first phase of H-1: HELIX will feature a 13-story, 574,000-square-foot building that will house the New Jersey Innovation Hub, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the Rutgers Translational Research Facility. In fact, Rutgers and Princeton Universities, RWJ Barnabas Health, and Hackensack will be the first tenants. The development will be split into multiple phases, with a 10,000-square-foot market hall (with dining options) and a 3,000-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor.
H-2: The second portion of HELIX, designed by HDR, Inc., will include 600,000 square feet of custom lab and office space. On December 11, 2023, Nokia announced plans to relocate Nokia Bell Labs to HELIX as the sole tenant of H-2.
H-3: The third phase of the project will include a 42-story mixed-use building containing 220 residential units.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) Board of Directors approved $271 million in tax incentives under the Aspire program to support the project’s development.
The economic power of such a large project is understandable, as construction workers spend money every day at local stores and restaurants.
Grab breakfast inside O'Bagel and you'll find a great spot to watch dozens of employees pick up their breakfast. Construction could begin in July 2023 and be completed in 2026. Imagine the economic impact it could have on all the nearby businesses, including Efe's Cafe, Smoke Shop, Pizza and Grill, Cool Running Jamaica and Caribbean Cuisine. More business means more employees will be needed.
The bottom line? New Brunswick can evolve into a thriving metropolis if all residents are given the opportunity to share in the wealth. Upgrading education initiatives will ensure success.
L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at LAParker@Trentonian.com.
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