Elevate Research Properties leases JAX at Hudson Research Center

Manhattan, NY Elevate Research Properties, the life sciences subsidiary of Taconic Partners, welcomes The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) to the Hudson Research Center, Elevate’s 320,000 s/f, Class A research and medical building on the West Side. 

The Hudson Research Center, located at 619 West 54^th St., is a life sciences facility that has helped to establish Midtown West as one of the city’s main life science clusters. Taconic/Elevate, along with their partner Affinius Capital, recently completed a recapitalization of the asset with an extension of the MetLife mortgage and fresh equity investment for future development and leasing costs. The building underwent a recent comprehensive renovation program to reposition the property as a leading NYC hub for innovation. JAX’s arrival in New York is a key addition to the city’s life science market, which includes several other research institutions, startups, pharmaceutical companies, and investors. 

“We are thrilled to have a global institution such as JAX within our portfolio and couldn’t be more excited for what they bring to the overall New York City research market,” said Matthew Weir, president, Elevate Research Properties. “The market is already buzzing with excitement over the potential of the combined JAX/NYSCF platform and we anticipate that other companies and institutions will be drawn to the building as a result.”

JAX joins a roster of leading research tenants within the Hudson Research Center, including the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Human Immune Monitoring Center Lab and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM).

JAX recently acquired the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), a pioneering nonprofit dedicated to advancing cures through stem cell research. The unification of these two organizations creates a powerful discovery platform, one that integrates JAX’s leadership in genetics, mouse models, and data science with NYSCF’s human stem cell research and large-scale automation. Together, this unified platform is designed to investigate disease earlier, model human biology more precisely, and generate reproducible insights at unprecedented scale, reshaping how biomedical research begins and accelerates toward impact.

The combined organization will equip the global biomedical community with more powerful tools to model human health and test interventions, while further establishing the Hudson Research Center as a destination for cutting-edge academic, medical, and biotechnology research. The JAX/NYSCF space includes advanced research laboratories with highly specialized infrastructure, including a cGMP suite, chemical fume hoods, and the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array, the world’s only fully automated robotic technology for creating stem cells at scale.

“This is not just a bolt-on or a merger of two entities. We see an opportunity here where the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts and we have an opportunity to have a transformative impact on the future of biomedicine,” said Lon Cardon, Ph.D., president and CEO, The Jackson Laboratory, at a celebratory ribbon tying ceremony at the Hudson Research Center to commemorate the unification of the two organizations. The event was held in NYSCF’s facility and was attended by Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., former NIH director; Brad Madison Hoylman-Sigal, Incoming city borough president; Gale Brewer, New York City councilmember; and Linda Rosenthal, Manhattan assembly member, among others.

In addition to the acquisition of NYSCF’s technology, JAX was excited about leveraging NYSCF’s location in Manhattan as a factor to draw top research talent. “New York City is one of the world’s great centers of scientific talent, clinical insight, and entrepreneurial energy,” said Cardon. “Being embedded in this ecosystem allows us to attract exceptional researchers who want to work at the intersection of genetics, stem cell science, and data-driven discovery—and to do so in close proximity to leading academic medical centers, industry partners, and patients. That convergence is essential to accelerating impact.”