New York City attracts life science tenants as NJ sheds them

Pill makers looking for real estate near leading academic medical facilities

From left: Alexandria Center for Life Sciences and former Roche campus in Nutley, NJ
From left: Alexandria Center for Life Sciences and former Roche campus in Nutley, NJ

Consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry has led some pill firms to shutter New Jersey facilities, but another factor is contributing to closures: a transition to conducting research in smaller academic settings in places like New York City.

As Jersey’s pharma campuses gather dust, the New York Metro area has been one of the biggest recipients of life sciences venture capital, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report cited by WNYC.

“The new innovation in biotech, in genomics is happening elsewhere. It’s happening in places where there are graduate educational institutions that have research faculty doing that, and New Jersey really doesn’t have that,” Erik Gordon, professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, told the station.

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In 2012, Roche announced it would shutter its 116-acre Nutley, New Jersey campus in order to take an 11-year lease at the Alexandria Center for Life Sciences at 450 East 29th Street. The company said it wanted to be closer to leading academic medical facilities and took advantage of a New York tax credit that encourages businesses to create jobs in the state.

JLL is marketing the vacant Nutley campus. The brokerage tells potential buyers one of its chief selling points is its proximity to New York City, reported WNYC. [WNYC]Tom DiChristopher