Thor to build First Lab-Ready Life Sciences Property in NJ

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., February 10, 2021 - Thor Sciences, a division of Thor Equities specializing in the life sciences sector, has begun construction to complete base building infrastructure on 95G, the first lab-ready life sciences property in Jersey City, New Jersey, as of January 2021. JLL is the exclusive leasing agent for the 350,000-square-foot, eight-story property, located at 95 Greene Street. The building is currently being repositioned for R&D use by SGA Architects.

Thor Sciences has launched a comprehensive adaptive reuse project for the property, which it purchased in March 2020. 95G offers robust utilities infrastructure and abundant power resources served by multiple utility grids. Base building work will include extensive upgrades to mechanicals, HVAC, vertical conduits and a new rooftop generator. The project will include a pre-built lab suite on the third floor. This suite, along with the completion of base building upgrades, will be delivered by the end of summer 2021. 

Dan Loughlin, vice chairman; Craig Eisenhardt, managing director; Dan Spero, managing director; Blake Goodman, executive vice president; Bob Ryan, senior vice president; and John Cahill, senior vice president; with JLL; will lead the leasing team for the property. 

Located at the intersection of Greene and York streets in Jersey City’s Paulus Hook neighborhood, 95 Greene Street served as a toothpaste manufacturing facility for Colgate Palmolive until 1987 and was later converted into a Class-A office building occupied by Merrill Lynch. The property offers 13- to 14-foot ceiling heights, secured interior loading docks, on-site life-safety generator and flexible floor plates. Onsite underground parking is available for 125 vehicles.

“This is the first lab-ready facility in urban New Jersey, ideally located between the large pharmaceutical companies in suburban New Jersey and the growing life sciences hub in New York City,” said Joseph Sitt. “The property stands at the center of a diverse and highly educated talent pool and provides easy access to the region’s medical centers, higher-education institutions and accelerators that are at the source of the remarkable life sciences growth in the region.”

“There is robust demand for high-quality, lab-ready R&D space in the greater metropolitan area,” said Cahill. “95G is favorably positioned to compete with the New York City and suburban New Jersey life sciences markets and offers tenants the additional benefit of the soon-to-come, revised New Jersey incentives programs.”

Thor Equities is a recognized leader in the life sciences sector. In 2019, the company, a global leader in urban real estate development, leasing and management, launched Thor Sciences, a division specializing in life sciences. The announcement followed Thor Equities $152M acquisition of The Center of Excellence, a 784,000-square-foot campus on 48 acres in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Comprised of laboratory, research and development, and office buildings, the complex features life science companies specializing in pharmaceuticals and health services, including anchor tenants Nestlé Health Science, Ashland, and Amneal Pharmaceuticals.

95G is a short walk from the Exchange Place PATH Station, NY Waterway Ferry, NJ Transit and the new Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system. It is minutes from I-95, the New Jersey Turnpike, Routes 22 and 78, and Newark Liberty International Airport.

JLL is a leader in the northern/central New Jersey commercial real estate market, with more than 1,260 professionals and support staff providing agency leasing and property marketing, tenant representation, industrial services, strategic consulting, occupancy planning, workplace strategies, project and development services, property and facility management, and investment sales/capital markets debt and equity services to New Jersey's leading corporate tenants, investors and landlords. The firm, which assists clients from five full-service offices in Parsippany, Iselin (Metropark), Princeton, Morristown and East Rutherford, also acts as a local service provider for JLL’s global and national corporate clients in need of real estate assistance in New Jersey. NJBiz ranked JLL’s New Jersey operations as the No. 1 commercial real estate brokerage in the Garden State in 2020.