New York Genome Center Signs 170,000 Square Foot Office Lease for Life Sciences Research

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New York City is on a roll these days when it comes to recruiting, retaining and growing high-tech industries and jobs.

To this point, New York City further cemented its global leadership position in commercial life sciences this week with the coming relocation of the New York Genome Center for sequencing, bioinformatics and 'Big Data' warehousing into Manhattan's Hudson Square neighborhood.

The New York Genome Center (NYGC) and Edward J. Minskoff Equities (EJME) announced this week the execution of a 20-year lease for 170,000 square feet to be located on seven floors at 101 Avenue of the Americas office building.

The $47 million facility build-out, expected to be completed by mid-2013, will include sequencing, bioinformatics, and research labs, an Innovation Center to advance new technologies, and computing infrastructure to handle the processing and storage of massive amounts of new data. The facility will also include a ground-floor auditorium and café, training facilities, and administrative offices. Initially housing 100 employees, the center is expected to grow to 500+ employees over the first five years of operations.

Major computing support for these activities will be provided at the new Sabey Intergate Manhattan facility at 375 Pearl Street, where NYGC has established its offsite data center. The entire facility is secure within the boundaries of 1 Police Plaza; guarded by NYPD and Homeland Security personnel.

NYGC began offering sequencing, bioinformatics, and data storage services in February 2012, and expanded these services in mid-2012 through the launch of its pilot lab facilities at The Rockefeller University. The 101 Avenue of the Americas location will allow for these services and research operations to expand dramatically.

"This announcement marks another important milestone for NYGC, our Institutional Founding Members, and the City and State of New York," notes Nancy J. Kelley, Founding Executive Director of NYGC. "Our facility will be home to one of the world's largest genomic centers, combining innovative thinking, leading edge technology, and an entrepreneurial spirit."

"Thanks to our world-class universities, medical research centers, and pharmaceutical companies, New York is already a global leader in the commercial life sciences," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "The New York Genome Center will make us even more of a world leader in the life sciences, in much the same way that the applied sciences campuses we're developing on Roosevelt Island and in Downtown Brooklyn will further solidify New York's leadership in the tech sector."

The new home for NYGC is another chapter in New York's growth as a hub for science and technology. "As a long-term New York landlord and developer, we appreciate the positive impact that NYGC will have not only in our building, but also throughout the City and around the globe," said Edward J. Minskoff. "We also are particularly excited to have an anchor tenant like NYGC at 101, a testament to the development and growth prospects in the Hudson Square area." EJME is contributing close to $9 million in tenant improvements in the building.

NYGC's long-term service agreement with Sabey will enable NYGC to create a scalable system that will grow along with the center and seamlessly link its members and other collaborators. To augment data storage with low-cost, sustainable hydro power, NYCG will also use Sabey's Intergate Quincy

data center in Washington state and Sabey's IGX network that interconnects the company's data centers throughout the U.S.

"From the outset, Sabey has been impressed by NYGC's vision and passion. Together, we can build an unparalleled resource for analyzing, sharing, and storing genomics data and findings," said Dave Sabey, CEO of Sabey Corp., parent of Sabey Data Centers.

"The world-class facilities and data infrastructure that NYGC and its partners are developing have the potential not only to transform healthcare and science," said Kelley, "but also to be an innovative and collaborative engine for substantial economic activity and new venture formation in New York."