Massive $1.2 Billion Biotech Center in New York Will Create Thousands of New Jobs

April 4, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

VALHALLA, N.Y. – A proposed $1.2 billion biotech development is projected to bring up to 12,000 jobs to the greater New York City area.

Westchester County officials gave the approval for the Westchester Bioscience and Technology Center on Monday. The site is being developed by Fareri Associates. The group will invest the $1.2 billion and build the center, which will be known as North 60, on 60 acres of vacant land adjacent to Westchester Medical Center, according to reports. The project is expected to take 10 to 15 years to fully develop.

Rob Astorino, county executive of Westchester County, said local officials hope when North 60 is completed that the area will become competition for the crowded biotech hubs of Cambridge, Mass., San Francisco or San Diego, WAMC reported.

Although Westchester County approved the plan, the development still has to be approved by the Town of Mount Pleasant. Astorino told WAMC that town officials have indicated they’re in favor of the project, but it could take some time to finalize.

When the site is fully developed, it will include 2,252,600 square feet of biotech and research space, as well as 400,000 square feet of medical offices, the Daily Voice in White Plains reported. The development will also include a 100,000-square-foot hotel with 100 rooms; 114,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, and a 34,000-square-foot Children's Living Science Center, North 60 will consist of three parts—West Research Village, Central Village and East Research Village. The first phase of development will include 220,000 square feet of biotech/research space, 100,000 square feet of medical space.

The hope of the developers and the community is the new site will spur companies to locate to the facility and then forge relationships with the Westchester Medical Center, as well as local educational resources such as Westchester Community College, Pace University and New York Medical College.

The site could also be able to benefit from a nearby neighbor, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals , a company that is in the process of expanding its own physical footprint in New York. In December, the company snapped up a 76-acre site for $50 million. The site will allow the company to expand its office space and is also expected to provide additional research space to advance the company’s pipeline. Last year, the company invested $150 million in its Tarrytown plant to expand its research and development capacities. That was in addition to work it added to its upstate New York campus at a cost of about $150 million. In January, Regeneron went from tenant to owner, as it took steps to purchase its headquarters, a site it had leased for more than 25 years, for $720 million, the Journal News reported. In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Regeneron’s Dupixent, the first and only biologic medicine approved for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.