The New York Blood Center is partnering with Longfellow Real Estate Partners to transform its East 67th Street headquarters into a 600,000 s/f life science campus.
Called Center East, the hub will replace NYBC’s existing facility with a state-of-the-art center that will continue to be a key part of the City’s pandemic response infrastructure.
“Life science innovation has never been more important as we
are grappling with a global pandemic that is requiring us to research in real
time, and simultaneously develop vaccines, therapeutics and much needed tests,”
said Christopher D. Hillyer, president of New York Blood Center.
“COVID-19 underscores the importance of investing in Center
East, and developing a true life sciences hub that will allow us to advance
research for treatments that will improve the health outcomes for people living
with a range of serious conditions.”
The project, which is subject to zoning approvals, will be anchored by NYBC, which supplies life-saving blood products and services to nearly every hospital across the five boroughs and delivers stem cell products to over 45 countries worldwide.
Center East will not only provide space for NYBC to
significantly expand its research, but its presence as an anchor tenant within
the new building is expected to attract other life science startups and
ultimately grow an ecosystem that helps new companies to commercialize.
“New York City is facing unparalleled challenges in the
wake of COVID-19,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “Center
East is a proposed solution that will make us both more resilient in the face
of future pandemics and provide an economic engine that will be essential to
our City’s success moving forward.”
NYBC’s commercial and academic collaborations with life
science companies and other research institutions are essential to bring its
discoveries to patients as new vaccines, products, drugs and treatments.
However, the blood center cannot expand its research and
development due to the physical limitations of its current facility, which was
originally built in 1930 as a Trade School
The vision for the proposed purpose-built, 596,000
gross-square-foot Center East campus is to modernize NYBC from the ground up, creating
space for institutions and startups all working together under one roof.
The 16-story Center East building will include shared and
dedicated spaces to serve all the building’s tenants, including startups,
industry groups, partner institutions and venture capital firms.
“We believe deeply in the mission of New York Blood Center
and that Center East can serve as the catalyst to generating a thriving life
science ecosystem in New York City,” said Jamison Peschel, Managing Partner at
Longfellow.
“By partnering with NYBC, we will help New York City
establish itself as a major center for the advancement of cell and gene
therapies around the world, such as Boston/Cambridge and San Francisco. This is
an incredible opportunity for NYBC and for New York to leverage the research
capacity of world-class institutions and drive the commercialization of
advances that will save lives.”
Ennead Architects has designed a building that will provide
NYBC with a modern, purpose-built and amenity-rich home that emphasizes
efficiency, flexibility, transparency, and collaboration.
NYBC will be the
primary occupant of floors 1-5. The NYBC program includes a ground floor Blood
Donation Center, state-of-the art Research Laboratories, and associated
executive and support functions.
The building’s upper stories, floors 7-16, will be reserved
for Longfellow partner organizations.
Center East occupants will have access to collaboration
spaces, shared specialty lab environments, a café, and conference facilities
with a ground floor multi-purpose room.
Longfellow and NYBC expect the project to create an
estimated 2,600 new jobs on site, an estimated 3,000 indirect jobs in the
neighborhood, and a total new economic output of $1.1 billion annually.
In addition, as part of the Center East vision, NYBC and Longfellow will create a workforce development program targeted at supporting youth and collegiate STEM talent via education, internship and mentoring programs, strategic partnerships with outside educational organizations, and on-site training and certifications.
“Now more than ever, the life science industry is critical
to both the physical and economic health of New York,” said Carlo A. Scissura,
President and CEO of the New York Building Congress.
“Center East will not only provide construction jobs in the
short term, but has the potential to facilitate the creation of new, long-term
jobs from every sector of the life science ecosystem. This project represents
an opportunity for New York City at a time when we desperately need new
economic engines and job creation.”
