New York Construction Report staff writer
Construction has reached the structural steel topping-off milestone on a new administrative building that will serve Rutgers University and University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.
Placing the final steel beam on Oct. 28 marks the completion of the building’s structural frame and the first major construction milestone in a multiyear redevelopment of the shared Rutgers Health and University Hospital campus.
The building is being developed by New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), with Joseph Jingoli & Son serving as construction manager. It is located at 12th Avenue and Bergen Street.
The facility will include four floors of administrative offices for Rutgers Health and University Hospital, approximately 11,000 square feet of outpatient clinical space and an 875-space parking garage. The project also includes space for future expansion.
The new building will replace administrative offices dating from the 1970s that were originally intended for temporary use. Phase one of construction is estimated to cost $325 million, including demolition, site preparation and construction of the administrative building and a second medical office building. The administrative building is expected to open in 2027.
Work is part of a $1.8-billion modernization of the University Hospital campus, aimed at replacing aging facilities, expanding clinical services and improving access to health care.
Phase two calls for construction of a new medical office building at 90 Bergen St., replacing the existing Doctors Office Center. The facility will accommodate outpatient clinics, physician offices and administrative services currently located in the existing building.
Once the medical office building is complete, the Doctors Office Center and its adjacent parking deck are expected to be demolished to make way for a new patient tower connected to the existing hospital. Major upgrades to the hospital are also planned.
The phased approach is intended to allow patients to continue receiving care in existing facilities while construction progresses.
University Hospital is New Jersey’s only public acute-care hospital and serves as the principal teaching hospital for Rutgers’ Newark-based medical education programs.
The redevelopment is intended to modernize the shared health sciences campus while expanding its capacity for patient care, medical education and research.
