Early next year, the New Brunswick (N.J.) Development Corporation, in collaboration with RWJBarnabas Health and the Rutgers Cancer Institute, is scheduled to open the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, which will be the Garden State’s first National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
This 12-story, 520,000-sf, $750 million project, which broke ground in June 2021 and topped off in November 2022, will be a freestanding building that combines in- and outpatient services with research. A skywalk will connect the Cancer Center to the existing Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
The new building will include 96 inpatient beds on three floors, with one entire floor for surgical services. There will also be 84 infusion bays, 74 exam rooms, and state-of-the-art imaging and diagnostic equipment that includes four linear accelerators. The Cancer Center will offer in- and outpatient radiation oncology services.
More than 100 scientists will have access to 10 research labs within the Cancer Center.
The Cancer Center will be integrated into RWJBarnabas’ “Navigator” program, which allows patients to take a more active part in managing their treatment and longer-term healthcare.
The Building Team for the Cancer Center includes HOK (architect and designer), a joint venture between Jingoli Construction and LF Driscoll (GC), and O’Donnell & Naccarato (SE). As part of this project, RWJBarnabas picked up the $55 million tab to build Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, a three-story elementary school for 800 students that opened last September. Jack Morris, the Cancer Center’s benefactor and namesake, is the founding chairman of RWJBarnabas Health, and with his wife leads Edgewood Properties, a property development and management firm.
An innovation hub in the city’s core
![](/sites/default/files/inline-images/helix-new-brunswick%20SJJP%20Properties.jpg)
The Morris Cancer Center isn’t the only project that’s positioned to reshape New Brunswick’s reputation, urban landscape, and economy, at a time when this city of 56,400 is only growing marginally and has struggled to maintain its jobs base. After years of languishing as a massive excavation hole, The Health and Life Science Exchange (HELIX NJ), a four-acre innovation district which was co-developed by SJP Properties and the New Brunswick Development Corporation, finally began construction last July and is scheduled to start opening next year.
HELIX’s $650 million first phase, a 13-story 573,400-sf building, will house an Innovation HUB, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (on four floors), and a research facility, as well as retail space, a 10,000-sf market hall, and a 3,000-sf restaurant that opens onto a 70-ft-wide plaza.
Rutgers University, which will occupy three-quarters of HELIX’s first building, has committed $270 million to recruit and retain 80 translational research investigators to work in HELIX.
HELIX’s $731 million second phase, designed by HDR, will include 600,000 sf of built-to-suit office and lab space. (Last month, Nokia announced plans to move Nokia Bell Labs into HELIX.) Phase 3 will be a mixed-use 42-story building with 220 housing units. Jingoli Construction is HELIX’s general contractor.
HELIX was the first program approved under the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's Aspire tax credit program, which was created by legislation passed in 2020.
Related Stories
Building Team | Jul 12, 2022
10 resource reduction measures for more efficient and sustainable biopharma facilities
Resource reduction measures are solutions that can lead to lifecycle energy and cost savings for a favorable return on investment while simultaneously improving resiliency and promoting health and wellness in your facility.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 22, 2022
Arizona State University’s Health Futures Center: A new home for medical tech innovation
In Phoenix, the Arizona State University (ASU) has constructed its Health Futures Center—expanding the school’s impact as a research institution emphasizing medical technology acceleration and innovation, entrepreneurship, and healthcare education.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 20, 2022
Is telehealth finally mainstream?
After more than a century of development, telehealth has become a standard alternative for many types of care.
Codes and Standards | Jun 14, 2022
Hospitals’ fossil fuel use trending downward, but electricity use isn’t declining as much
The 2021 Hospital Energy and Water Benchmarking Survey by Grumman|Butkus Associates found that U.S. hospitals’ use of fossil fuels is declining since the inception of the annual survey 25 years ago, but electricity use is dipping more slowly.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 13, 2022
University of Kansas Health System cancer care floors foster community and empathy
On three floors of Cambridge Tower A at The University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, patients being treated for blood cancers have a dedicated space that not only keeps them safe during immune system comprising treatments, but also provide feelings of comfort and compassion.
Sponsored | Healthcare Facilities | May 3, 2022
Planning for hospital campus access that works for people
This course defines the elements of hospital campus access that are essential to promoting the efficient, stress-free movement of patients, staff, family, and visitors. Campus access elements include signage and wayfinding, parking facilities, transportation demand management, shuttle buses, curb access, valet parking management, roadways, and pedestrian walkways.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 19, 2022
6 trends to watch in healthcare design
As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, IMEG’s healthcare leaders from across the country are seeing several emerging trends that are poised to have wide-ranging impacts on facility design and construction. Following are six of the trends and strategies they expect to become more commonplace in 2022 and the years to come.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 14, 2022
Healthcare construction veteran creates next-level IPD process for hospital projects
Can integrated project delivery work without incentives for building team members? Denton Wilson thinks so.
Market Data | Apr 14, 2022
FMI 2022 construction spending forecast: 7% growth despite economic turmoil
Growth will be offset by inflation, supply chain snarls, a shortage of workers, project delays, and economic turmoil caused by international events such as the Russia-Ukraine war.
Laboratories | Apr 7, 2022
North Carolina's latest play for biotech real estate development
The Tar Heel State is among a growing number of markets rolling out the welcome mat for lab spaces.