BRONX, NY (March 2022) — Proximity to research hospitals and plug-and-play capabilities are among the top elements of a winning formula for developing life sciences real estate, said Joseph Simone, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce Foundation hosted its annual Women of Distinction Luncheon on March 25 at the Villa Barone Manor in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx. Chamber of Commerce Chairman Joseph Kelleher, president of Simone Metro Properties, (pictured R to L with scholarship winner Noemy Rodriguez, Allison Aguilar of Simone Development and Bronx Chamber Foundation Board Chair April Horton, Director, External Affairs & Government Affairs at Verizon), helped celebrate Women’s History Month and support the Chamber’s efforts to award scholarships young Bronx women who have demonstrated academic excellence.

This year’s luncheon honored Christine Croke, RN, patient care coordinator in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the Montefiore Weiler Hospital/Einstein Campus for her extraordinary contributions to Bronx patients, families and colleagues during the peak of the pandemic.

This year’s scholarships were made possible through the generosity of sponsors Con Edison, Ponce Bank, Verizon, The Monroe Foundation, Simone Development, New York Botanical Garden, Orange Bank & Trust Co., KZA Realty, Sandra Erickson Real Estate, Woodlawn Cemetery & Conservancy, F&F Insurance and Metro Optics.

BRONX, NY (March 2022) — Proximity to research hospitals and plug-and-play capabilities are among the top elements of a winning formula for developing life sciences real estate, said Joseph Simone, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.

“The life sciences sector has a specific set of criteria when considering real estate options,” said Joe Simone. “Life science CEOs aren’t just looking for oversize buildings that can accommodate labs; they need spaces where their employees believe that their personal values and needs are respected.”

Simone Development Companies identified five criteria that all real estate professionals should consider when contemplating a life sciences project:

1. Plug-and-play: Buildings with research-ready centralized systems such as air handling, acid neutralization, and backup power provide turnkey expansion opportunities for future lab users.
2. Proximity: Some of the nation’s most successful life science innovation corridors are emerging near research hospitals and universities. Life-sciences real estate that is walking or biking distance from such campuses will be favored by start-ups emerging from researchers’ discoveries.
3. Amenities: Remote work and the Great Resignation have taught employers that fitness centers, roof terraces, employee lounges and fun meeting spaces foster positive work environments and collaboration for employees.
4. Sustainability: Many emerging biosciences are writing sustainability and carbon neutrality into their mission statements. Real estate developers must deliver properties with energy recovery systems and other measures that mitigate laboratories’ large consumption of electricity and other resources.
5. Transportation: The technology workforce of today and tomorrow is increasingly concerned about the environment and the impact of automobiles. Wet labs and research facilities built near train stations, bus lines and bicycle lanes will help tenants attract top talent that values a car-free existence.

“In 2021, New York City experienced a record year for laboratory leasing activity,” said Joanna Simone, Principal and President of Leasing and Property Management. “We analyzed the leasing data and concluded that most of the properties were in buildings that incorporated these five elements.”

BRONX, NY (February 2022) — Buildings with flexible and adaptive spaces are critical to attracting growing life-sciences businesses, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.

“Nationwide, we are seeing proposed construction that emphasizes flexible and adaptive spaces, regardless of whether the end uses are laboratories, classrooms or offices,” said Joseph Simone, president of Simone Development Companies. “Landlords seek buildings whose interiors can be quickly modified to meet new market realities, particularly in the burgeoning life sciences sector.”

Collaboration is prized in the life sciences and other burgeoning industries dependent on innovation, so new buildings are designed to enhance the creative collaboration that leads to new products and breakthroughs.

“The very competitive biomedical research environment demands shared facilities and diverse spaces in which employee teams of various sizes can do their work,” said Joseph Simone.

Simone Development Companies’ Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx is an example of contemporary trends in flexible and adaptive building. An ambulatory surgical center–the Bronx’s first bedless hospital–contains open floor plans that allow the hospital to quickly adapt to new health care priorities.

“We have proposed expanding our Hutchinson Metro Center campus to include wet laboratories for medical research. This new facility will include high ceilings and open floor plans that facilitate flexible and adaptive uses,” said Joseph Simone.

The proposed expansion of the Hutchinson Metro Center campus aligns with New York City’s biotech investment in the Morris Park innovation corridor. New York City’s financial commitment to growing the life sciences sector in all its boroughs includes a $13 million grant to Montefiore Medical Center and its medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to launch the Einstein-Montefiore Biotechnology Accelerated Research Center.

BRONX, NY (January 18, 2022) — The Bronx has the essential qualities to become a thriving life-sciences hub, according to Joe Simone, President of Simone Development Companies.

“The rise of innovation districts in major U.S. cities is driven by a set of traits that allow biotech firms to flourish. These traits include: physical compactness; transit accessibility; technical wiring; and mixed-use housing, office and retail,” said Joe Simone.

According to the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, a growing number of life-sciences companies and start-ups are choosing to congregate in compact, amenity-rich locations in the cores of central cities.

“In New York City, we see the emergence of these innovation corridors in Long Island City and West Harlem, both neighborhoods that are close to mass transit, hospitals and higher education institutions that are graduating students with STEM degrees,” said Joseph Simone. “We are beginning to see the emergence of a similar innovation corridor in the Bronx’s Morris Park neighborhood, where New York City has invested $13 million with Montefiore Medical Center and its medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to launch the Einstein-Montefiore Biotechnology Accelerated Research Center.”

The Bronx’s Morris Park neighborhood is already undergoing the needed transformation that will foster an innovation corridor. New housing has been built near the College of Medicine and New York City’s 911 call center next to Simone’s Hutchinson Metro Center brought the necessary high-speed wiring.

Now, Simone Development Companies is in the process of expanding its Hutchinson Metro Center campus to include wet laboratories for medical research. This new life-science-focused expansion will sit next to a new Metro-North train station that will soon provide commuters direct access to Grand Central Terminal and New York City’s other innovation corridors.

“Morris Park will become the next bench-to-bedside innovation hub,” said Joseph Simone. “Life science companies will settle in this area because of affordable wet labs, a diversity of housing options, and critical transit to Wall Street and other finance centers.”

BRONX, NY (January 5, 2022) — Joe Simone, President of Simone Development Companies, predicts that innovation corridors with research hospitals, universities and affordable housing are key to growing vibrant life-sciences communities.

“Life-science companies have bucket lists when seeking new locations. Their site-selection criteria include proximity to hospitals and higher-education institutions that graduate young STEM talent,” said Joseph Simone. “Life-science companies also need communities that have affordable housing options for their workers and thriving cultural-retail scenes.”

One of New York City’s burgeoning life-sciences neighborhoods is in West Harlem, an area that includes Columbia University, City College of New York, New York Structural Biology Center, NewYork Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center. Additionally, West Harlem’s median residential rental prices are significantly lower than other neighborhoods in Manhattan, according to Zumper.com.

Other New York City neighborhoods also have growing innovation corridors. In the Bronx’s Morris Park area, Simone Development has proposed expanding its Hutchinson Metro Center campus to include wet laboratories for medical research. This new life-science-focused expansion will sit next to a new Metro-North train station that will soon provide commuters direct access to Grand Central Terminal and Manhattan’s innovation corridors. “Morris Park is poised to become a bench-to-bedside innovation hub that transforms medical research into medicines or therapies,” said Joe Simone.

New York City’s biotech investment in the Morris Park innovation corridor includes a $13 million grant to Montefiore Medical Center and its medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to launch the Einstein-Montefiore Biotechnology Accelerated Research Center.

“The center will create a bio-manufacturing facility focused on cell, gene, and antibody therapy production,” said Joe Simone. “Our Hutchinson Metro Center is a short walk from the Montefiore facilities and we expect the area’s affordable housing to facilitate arriving biotechnology companies’ ability to recruit talent.”