Letter of Intent Signed for Eight-story Innovation Hub at SciTech Scity

Gov. Phil Murphy today announced that the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) and SciTech Scity LLC (“STS”), have signed a non-binding letter of intent to form a limited liability company to be called “Edge Works” to develop, construct, and manage an approximately 120,000-square-foot life sciences, healthcare, and tech innovation hub adjacent to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Pending approval by its Board, the NJEDA intends to invest up to $20 million in Edge Works. Anticipated costs for the Edge Works project totals more than $116 million.

Liberty Science Center is engaged in a large, $450-million expansion to build what will become the 30-acre STS innovation campus located in Jersey City and officially named the Frank J. Guarini Innovation Campus. The eight-story business creation hub of STS, will house laboratories, research & development spaces, office suites, coworking spaces for dozens of start-ups, a tech exhibition gallery, and a state-of-the-art conference center. In addition to Edge Works, SciTech Scity will also include Liberty Science Center High School, a new public STEM high school for Hudson County; and Scholars Village, consisting of 500 units of residential housing for tech-forward families and individuals.

“Edge Works will build upon New Jersey’s legacy as the ‘medicine chest’ of the world by fueling the economic benefits of this and other industries in North Jersey and contributing to our efforts to cultivate the most diverse, inclusive innovation ecosystem in the nation,” said Murphy. “This new hub of innovation will support dozens of promising New Jersey entrepreneurs in the nation’s most ethnically diverse city. In turn, the hub will have access to Jersey City’s unparalleled talent pool, and all the infrastructure, academic, and technological prowess right outside its doors that only SciTech Scity and Liberty Science Center can provide.”

A key focus area of Edge Works is healthcare and life sciences, particularly a new model of healthcare that emphasizes prevention and early detection of disease through the development, testing, and adoption of digital home health technology. STS anchor tenant Sheba Medical Center (Sheba), a leading Israeli hospital, will be creating Liberty Science ARC HealthSpace 2030, a “hospital of the future” simulation space on the top floor of Edge Works. Edge Works is expected to create nearly 800 construction jobs, and more than 400 permanent positions.

Governor Murphy and Liberty Science Center President and CEO Paul Hoffman were among the leaders that broke ground on the 30-acre, $450 million STS project in October 2021.

“We are grateful to Governor Murphy and the NJEDA for the state’s investment in SciTech Scity,” Hoffman said. “For 30 years Liberty Science Center has inspired the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators. We look forward to our expanded mission of starting new companies that use science and technology to address humanity’s greatest challenges and create a better future for all of us. Edge Works and SciTech Scity are guided by the vision that the best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Edge Works tenant companies will benefit from STS’ collaboration with colleges and universities to advance real-world applications for cutting-edge science and technology. The 170,000-student and faculty academic ecosystem that STS is bringing together includes Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hudson County Community College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, NYU Tandon School of Technology, Princeton University, Rowan University, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Stevens Institute of Technology. STS will work with these institutions to showcase their most important innovations and promote their research and talent to the venture capital and corporate innovation communities.

Strategic Innovation Centers, the program through which the NJEDA would collaborate with STS, are facilities that either directly support research and development (R&D), innovation, or entrepreneurship or are aimed at solving specific problems in new and innovative ways through a combination of services such as mentorship, networking opportunities, hands-on training, business support services, education opportunities, and/or access to testing, fabrication, or manufacturing facilities and equipment. The Centers can take many forms such as: accelerators, incubators, research centers, innovative service delivery centers, or multi-tenant innovation clusters. Most have a common goal of being a physical location that brings people together to advance innovation. They are often focused on a specific industry or around solving a specific problem. They build a community cluster of like-minded individuals that collaborate on solving a common problem or advancing a common goal. The ability to coalesce entrepreneurs and innovators at a central location often leads to a quicker time to market and greater success.

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