BRONX, NY (December 2021) — Biotech companies’ appetite for research institutions’ groundbreaking discoveries is driving growth in new life-science facilities, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.

“New York City’s university research hospitals are gold mines of innovation and emerging technologies,” said Joe Simone. “These research institutions are transferring their technologies to biotech start-ups and venture capitalists, which are investing billions of dollars to bring research-driven innovations to market. Therefore, the need for life-science web labs is exploding.”

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced a plan in June to double a $500 million investment in life sciences to $1 billion as part of LifeSci NYC, a commitment to create jobs and establish New York City as the global leader in life sciences.

“In November New York City approved the New York Blood Center’s new tower, which includes 600,000 square feet of life sciences lab space that will be rented to research and biotech companies. This is just one of several examples of new life-sciences construction proposed throughout the New York metro area,” said Simone.

New York City’s biotech investments include 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 biomanufacturing facility focused on cell, gene, and antibody therapy production. The Bronx-based center will be open to early-stage and established companies.

Across the street from the proposed biotech facility, Simone Development Companies’ Hutchinson Metro Center includes an ambulatory surgical center for Montefiore. At the south end of the Hutchinson Metro Center, Joseph Simone has proposed building an office park that includes wet laboratories for medical research.

According to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the life sciences sector has seen an average annual growth of 50+ biotech companies since 2016. Simone said that this growth is not limited to the New York City region.

“A fast-growing real estate investment trust recently reported record leasing activity driven by life sciences in knowledge centers like San Francisco, Seattle, Maryland and North Carolina,” said Joseph Simone. “The life sciences are the Industrial Revolution of the 21st-century, and Simone Development Companies is ready to build the facilities needed for the new generation of biotech start-ups.”