OT: Rutgers/NB/RWJMS Announce "HELIX" Complex in Downtown NB

[UMRU]

This is a pretty big deal for RU, the RU-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Brunswick. HELIX stands for NJ Health and Life Sciences Exchange. First of three buildings starts going up this spring across from the train station. Finally starting to see the merger of RU and the Med School paying off (this was proposed several years ago, but was delayed by the pandemic).

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-board-approves-research-and-medical-center?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rutgerstoday&utm_content=Economic Impact

I don't think this had much to do with the merger of RU and UMDNJ. I think it is more about the partnership that RWJMS formed with Barnabas Health. Barnabas, so far, has held true to their word and has pumped an enormous amount of money into the Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences (RBHS). The biggest part of this, however, is coming from the State of NJ. It is "the largest capital investment in translational research in the state's history".

Either way, this 1st building will have a huge impact on NB and Rutgers. The building will be 573,400-square-foot and include space for the medical school (currently our med students are taught in the Research Tower building on Busch, which is a very ugly and old building), a lot of space for basic and translational research, space for innovative, start up companies and retail space on the ground floor.

There also are plans to completely renovate (maybe replace) the train station and even make it a stop for Amtrak trains.

 

[Roy_Faulker]

Is this where the Farrin Deck was?

 

[czxqa]

I never understood the fascination with putting an arena in downtown New Brunswick. I like where the RAC is now - plenty of parking and very accessible. It’s not like we have a problem filling the place.

The medical/research complex is in a great location, near the hospital and J&J. Researchers can live in NYC and the surrounding region and hop a train to the labs, and the partnership with Princeton is a natural synergy. It also provides Princeton researchers with access to a medical research complex, something they don’t have on their campus. The whole project is a win/win for Rutgers, New Brunswick, and NJ. Now they just need to clean up and enhance the area along Easton Ave. to complement the new development.

Scarlet Jerry

Princeton University does not have a medical school. Not sure if that's who you were thinking of.

 

[50 yd line RR]

Is this where the Farrin Deck was?

Yes

 

[RUnTeX]

Princeton University does not have a medical school. Not sure if that's who you were thinking of.

Despite not having a med school, Princeton, along with Rutgers as well as RWJBarnabas and Hackensack Meridian will be co-located within the facility (I think Innovation Hub is what they've been calling it) in order to promote and undertake some joint research initiatives.

 

[RUnTeX]

Is this where the Farrin Deck was?

It was the deck and probably whatever was still left of the Ferrin Mall. A redevelopment has been sorely needed.

 

[MulletCork]

It was the deck and probably whatever was still left of the Ferrin Mall. A redevelopment has been sorely needed.

What was the reason they closed that, do you recall? I used to get my haircut at a salon there and go to that Mexican cantina place now and then.

 

[Roy_Faulker]

We used to eat at the round Grill. Marita’s Cantina what’s the name of the Mexican place when I was younger.

I knew the architect who designed that building. Always enjoyed going down there.

 

[kupuna133]

What was the reason they closed that, do you recall? I used to get my haircut at a salon there and go to that Mexican cantina place now and then.

To build this complex. I think this is better utilization of space and resources.

 

[RUnTeX]

What was the reason they closed that, do you recall? I used to get my haircut at a salon there and go to that Mexican cantina place now and then.

I guess the NB parking authority which owned all of that wasn't getting the return they needed to keep it going. It likely wasn't a thriving retail complex toward the end, and may have struggled with vacancies and being unable to drive rent growth.

 

[MulletCork]

I guess the NB parking authority which owned all of that wasn't getting the return they needed to keep it going. It likely wasn't a thriving retail complex toward the end, and may have struggled with vacancies and being unable to drive rent growth.

Makes sense. I was just wondering because it felt like this closed so long ago. The woman who owned the salon I went to moved to George Street a year or so before it closed. But that was a long time ago, so man it seems like that area must have sat vacant for a while.

 

[RUnTeX]

and even make it a stop for Amtrak trains

Was intermittent access for Amtrak service at NB discontinued at some point? I seem to recall back in the 90s and probably pre-Acela, that while not all Metroliner trains would stop in NB, there may have been one or two in each direction daily that would stop at NB.

 

[kupuna133]

Was intermittent access for Amtrak service at NB discontinued at some point? I seem to recall back in the 90s and probably pre-Acela, that while not all Metroliner trains would stop in NB, there may have been one or two in each direction daily that would stop at NB.

used to be able to access the amtrack “clocker” service in New Brunswick. They honored nj transit monthly passes.

 

[RUnTeX]

Makes sense. I was just wondering because it felt like this closed so long ago. The woman who owned the salon I went to moved to George Street a year or so before it closed. But that was a long time ago, so man it seems like that area must have sat vacant for a while.

I think the demolition goes back about 5-6 years ago and mall tenants would've been vacated before that of course. Things have probably been slowly in the works ever since and I recall the initial announcements for the redevelopment with the Innovation HUB campus proposed by DEVCO being back sometime in 2020-21, during the pandemic.

 

[RUnTeX]

used to be able to access the amtrack “clocker” service in New Brunswick. They honored nj transit monthly passes.

Ahhh, that's what it was...Clocker. I definitely remember being able to use the NJT monthly pass on it and get a faster ride up to Newark Penn.

 

[kupuna133]

Ahhh, that's what it was...Clocker. I definitely remember being able to use the NJT monthly pass on it and get a faster ride up to Newark Penn.

That train was dangerous. Colleague “fell asleep”after too many cocktails on the last clocker out of Newark Penn Station )9:45 pm ish)going south bound. Was supposed to get off in Princeton junction. Woke up in dc 4 hours later and there wasn’t another train northbound until 4 am. Just in time to get him back to the desk in the WTC 2 hours late.

 

[50 yd line RR]

I think the demolition goes back about 5-6 years ago and mall tenants would've been vacated before that of course. Things have probably been slowly in the works ever since and I recall the initial announcements for the redevelopment with the Innovation HUB campus proposed by DEVCO being back sometime in 2020-21, during the pandemic.

They had a deal ( in principle) with Blackrock.
After the crash in 2008 that fell through.

 

[50 yd line RR]

Listen to the link posted above. It’s covered in the last 10-15 minutes of his oral history. There were high level discussions in the mid to late 90’s to early 2000’s. Regarding an arena along or over rt18. State wanted to build additional sports complexes. New Brunswick/Rutgers was the location of choice. Instead that money was diverted (many in the know say by Lynch) to multiple other projects for political favor. In that link he seems to get nervous when it is brought up and asks to discuss off the record. And blames it on Rutgers.

Have to say maybe you know some more details of the rt 18 arena not materializing but In that video I see nothing that would lead me to believe John Lynch derailed that deal.

 

[RU848789]

Was intermittent access for Amtrak service at NB discontinued at some point? I seem to recall back in the 90s and probably pre-Acela, that while not all Metroliner trains would stop in NB, there may have been one or two in each direction daily that would stop at NB.

Amtrak still offers limited service to NB...

For those above, it was Ferren Deck...

 

[RUaMoose]

In order for them to build the arena in New Brunswick they needed parking for 2,000 cars. That was what was required. Unless you had put the arena out on Jersey avenue (where Cahill proposed). You couldn’t find 2,000 parking spots downtown if your life depended on it.

They can build it above the train station kind of a mini MSG with it above Penn Station. Fans can park over in Edison and take the train over. Or park in NB somewhere and walk. Think B1G

 

[50 yd line RR]

This is not something they are considering now. This is old news. They had talked about putting it right over rt 18. (Around new street.)
Also talked about the ferren deck location.
Right now the plan is to renovate the RAC and that’s it.

 

[motorb54]

Many people who live in the suburbs hate dealing with "city" parking.
What is the advantage of a downtown New Brunswick arena?
Do you really think many people would take a train to games?

 

[kupuna133]

Have to say maybe you know some more details of the rt 18 arena not materializing but In that video I see nothing that would lead me to believe John Lynch derailed that deal.

Did not get my information from that video. And didn’t even know that video existed until today. But from what I have heard (from multiple people) that have known the circumstances (and his family for many years) he was directly involved. You don’t think it was odd when questioned about the arena? He gets quiet thinks about his response and then asks if we are on the record? The only time in an 1 1/2 long interview he was delayed and asked to take things off the record. Very measured response.

 

[retired711]

This is a pretty big deal for RU, the RU-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Brunswick. HELIX stands for NJ Health and Life Sciences Exchange. First of three buildings starts going up this spring across from the train station. Finally starting to see the merger of RU and the Med School paying off (this was proposed several years ago, but was delayed by the pandemic).

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-board-approves-research-and-medical-center?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rutgerstoday&utm_content=Economic Impact

Not to get in trouble, but this strikes me as a better use for the land than a downtown sports arena. For one thing, it is great to have a facility right by a train station so that researchers can easily reach it from Manhattan. I don't see anything wrong with the RAC's location -- the problem there is renovation.

Am I the only person who finds it odd that Holloway is not quoted anywhere in the story? Similarly, a new Dean of the Law School was named today, and Holloway isn't one of the signatories on the announcement. I can't picture Barchi or McCormick or Blaustein not being visible. (Who knows about Fran Lawrence!?)

 

[kupuna133]

Not to get in trouble, but this strikes me as a better use for the land than a downtown sports arena. For one thing, it is great to have a facility right by a train station so that researchers can easily reach it from Manhattan. I don't see anything wrong with the RAC's location -- the problem there is renovation.

Am I the only person who finds it odd that Holloway is not quoted anywhere in the story? Similarly, a new Dean of the Law School was named today, and Holloway isn't one of the signatories on the announcement. I can't picture Barchi or McCormick or Blaustein not being visible. (Who knows about Fran Lawrence!?)

Long term much better use of the space than an arena. But that was not the original spot for a downtown arena.

 

[retired711]

Long term much better use of the space than an arena. But that was not the original spot for a downtown arena.

Ok. . . I thought there was talk here of putting the arena where the Ferren Deck was. Where was the originally-proposed location?

 

[kupuna133]

Ok. . . I thought there was talk here of putting the arena where the Ferren Deck was. Where was the originally-proposed location?

There were multiple sites discussed in the downtown area closer to rt 18 (1 directly over rt 18 near the old New Brunswick police dept) the old site of the projects and the old sears location on rt1.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Parking was an issue but that could have been easily solved. The story is much deeper than 2000 parking spots. That’s cover. Lynch did a lot of good for New Brunswick and he and his family have been rewarded handsomely. The reason the arena was not built was not because of parking. The arena was traded away. They had their choice of multiple sites in and around downtown. The sears site, jersey ave, 2-3sites downtown, along rt 18 near the old projects.

you guys are thinking of New Brunswick today rather than what it was when the location of an arena was first proposed. New Bruswick has leveled blocks and blocks for office development and so one since then. Heck.. the whole Ferren deck/mall thing was created and raised since then. The so called "golden triangle between teh train station and Albany and George was raised and developed.. with cheap office building and deck replacing what they sold as a gem of architecture to justify seizing all that property. bait and switch is used often to support whatever JnJ wants to do.

But it is all very complex... sooooo much needed to be done to save New Brunwswick and, by extension, any part of Rutgers in New Bruwnsick. The key has always been route 18 and getting people in and out and through New Brunswick. And an arena would complicate things but no more so than JnJ itself. Plenty of prosperous small cities and towns exist as college towns alone. A lot was bulldozed and given to JnJ for their HQ because they could demand a lot at that time. They got lots of land and built a moderate size HQ building and then needed more such office space outside that HQ while retaining all the greenspace. Nice for them. They had their own land to build parking decks on near route 18 near their old office buildings on George.. but they used new space for that.

Route 18 used to turn up and run into George.. that where it ended before being run by the river dorms and over the Raritan. It was supposed to extend down River Road but the River Road people fought that and now goes between the Rutgers Piscataway campuses.

This oral history jumps around.. but it discusses a lot of issues regarding Devco and teh JnJ HQ. That greenspace they have was sold as a public park but made private.. allegedly for security concerns for JnJ.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I guess the NB parking authority which owned all of that wasn't getting the return they needed to keep it going. It likely wasn't a thriving retail complex toward the end, and may have struggled with vacancies and being unable to drive rent growth.

Ha.. you think economic logic applies? Its the whole public-private model thing over and over. The deal for the Ferren Deck development was made ages ago by different politicians with their constituencies... now a new batch found a way to serve a new constituency by re-developing that with new promises to sell.. and so it goes.

 

[RU848789]

I don't think this had much to do with the merger of RU and UMDNJ. I think it is more about the partnership that RWJMS formed with Barnabas Health. Barnabas, so far, has held true to their word and has pumped an enormous amount of money into the Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences (RBHS). The biggest part of this, however, is coming from the State of NJ. It is "the largest capital investment in translational research in the state's history".

Either way, this 1st building will have a huge impact on NB and Rutgers. The building will be 573,400-square-foot and include space for the medical school (currently our med students are taught in the Research Tower building on Busch, which is a very ugly and old building), a lot of space for basic and translational research, space for innovative, start up companies and retail space on the ground floor.

There also are plans to completely renovate (maybe replace) the train station and even make it a stop for Amtrak trains.

I wasn't thinking the merger was directly responsible for this, per se, but it certainly set the stage for it, with the State making a clear investment in the combined schools and the schools taking all of the administrative steps to make the merger a reality, making it much easier for future expansion and growth of the combined clinical/medical research entities. I don't think the State makes this kind of investment without the merger having happened (and Barnabas also being on board). As you said, regardless, great to see it all coming together. Also, Amtrak does have limited service to NB, but expansion of that would be nice to see.

 

[kupuna133]

you guys are thinking of New Brunswick today rather than what it was when the location of an arena was first proposed. New Bruswick has leveled blocks and blocks for office development and so one since then. Heck.. the whole Ferren deck/mall thing was created and raised since then. The so called "golden triangle between teh train station and Albany and George was raised and developed.. with cheap office building and deck replacing what they sold as a gem of architecture to justify seizing all that property. bait and switch is used often to support whatever JnJ wants to do.

But it is all very complex... sooooo much needed to be done to save New Brunwswick and, by extension, any part of Rutgers in New Bruwnsick. The key has always been route 18 and getting people in and out and through New Brunswick. And an arena would complicate things but no more so than JnJ itself. Plenty of prosperous small cities and towns exist as college towns alone. A lot was bulldozed and given to JnJ for their HQ because they could demand a lot at that time. They got lots of land and built a moderate size HQ building and then needed more such office space outside that HQ while retaining all the greenspace. Nice for them. They had their own land to build parking decks on near route 18 near their old office buildings on George.. but they used new space for that.

Route 18 used to turn up and run into George.. that where it ended before being run by the river dorms and over the Raritan. It was supposed to extend down River Road but the River Road people fought that and now goes between the Rutgers Piscataway campuses.

This oral history jumps around.. but it discusses a lot of issues regarding Devco and teh JnJ HQ. That greenspace they have was sold as a public park but made private.. allegedly for security concerns for JnJ.

The timeline I was discussing was mid to late 90’s into early 2000. Prior to much of the downtown development. The 2 primary locations being discussed were adjacent properties close to the old projects. I know the history of rt 18 and vividly remember the delay in building the bridge and being forced to either use the Albany st or landing lane bridge to cross the Raritan.

 

[HPNJRUfan]

Since everyone seems to have found the Bloustein Oral History videos...

Here is a legend of the Urban Planning department and former professor of mine, Mr. Tony Nelessen discussing changes in NB since his arrival in the mid-70s:


And here is Mr. Chris Paladino of DEVCO, discussing growing up in NB and the history of development over the past 30 years:

 

[50 yd line RR]

Ha.. you think economic logic applies? Its the whole public-private model thing over and over. The deal for the Ferren Deck development was made ages ago by different politicians with their constituencies... now a new batch found a way to serve a new constituency by re-developing that with new promises to sell.. and so it goes.

New Brunswick was taking a nose dive before the Lynch administration made a deal
with J&J. If they didn’t work that out, New Brunswick would look a lot more like Camden today. They still have a lot of work to do but you have a lot of big players with a vested interest to keep it viable.

 

[kupuna133]

New Brunswick was taking a nose dive before the Lynch administration made a deal
with J&J. If they didn’t work that out, New Brunswick would look a lot more like Camden today. They still have a lot of work to do but you have a lot of big players with a vested interest to keep it viable.

Pretty much this in a nutshell. I remember, as a very young child, going to pick up my dad at the train station in New Brunswick late 70's early 80's and it was nothing but empty buildings and xxx theaters. Lynch and team did very good things early on.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Pretty much this in a nutshell. I remember, as a very young child, going to pick up my dad at the train station in New Brunswick late 70's early 80's and it was nothing but empty buildings and xxx theaters. Lynch and team did very good things early on.

well there was one XXX theatre.. Art's Cinema.. which also had the midnight Saturday Rocky Horror Show and was an historic RKO theatre at one time that couldn't compete with multiscreen theatres. But on Rutgers side of the tracks was the Showcase Lounge.. a strip club. There was a lot of old dilapidated architecture that had its own charm.. old victorian stuff... bike shop, produce store, Chinese restaurant across Albany you had to walk up a flight to. Giant barber shop on the corner which would slim down and move into the train station for a short while.

New Brunswick is a lot better off now but that doesn't mean they could not have worked in an arena at some point. They could have... the vested interests had better use for the land.. for their own interests. If they had built an arena where they built the Ferren Deck.. could they have torn it down now to build whatever it is they are building now? Doubtful.

 

[UMRU]

Princeton University does not have a medical school. Not sure if that's who you were thinking of.

Princeton and RBHS have quite a few connections. Our MD/PhD students, for example, can do the PhD part of their training at PU; PU is an important part of our Cancer Institute’s comprehensive care designation/grant: we have several science shared resources; we even have some joint faculty. Personally, I think PU gets a lot more out of these connections than we do

 

[RUTGERS95]

Princeton and RBHS have quite a few connections. Our MD/PhD students, for example, can do the PhD part of their training at PU; PU is an important part of our Cancer Institute’s comprehensive care designation/grant: we have several science shared resources; we even have some joint faculty. Personally, I think PU gets a lot more out of these connections than we do

I'd shut PU out

 

[RUPete]

I'd shut PU out

Not the point of this whole initiative. This is really a great thing for Rutgers, RWJUH, New Brunswick and New Jersey as a whole.

 

[e5fdny]

Not the point of this whole initiative. This is really a great thing for Rutgers, RWJUH, New Brunswick and New Jersey as a whole.

As long as that's the order, I'm cool.😎

 

[BigRnj]

Does anyone have a link that would give a layman’s Cliff/Spark Notes version of the whole RWJ/Rutgers Med School/St Barnabas situation. At a distance it is still a bit confusing and I’m too lazy to read through much of what I have seen in the past to sort it out. Thanks