WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Hackensack Meridian Health’s new Health & Wellness Center at MetroPark train station opened last Wednesday, April 29.
This is the brand-new, seven-story office building right next to the train station. The top floors are the new home of Hackensack Meridian’s corporate headquarters (they used to be in Edison). The rest of the building has:
A sports and spine centerAn urgent care plusA pharmacy on the ground floorPrimary care doctors, medical specialties and surgical specialtiesPhysical and occupational therapyRehabilitationPhlebotomy (blood work)Advanced scanning and imaging, such as MRI, CT scans, etc.
It sounds like a hospital, but it’s not. They will not have in-patient rooms where patients can stay overnight. In the epast few years, Hackensack Meridian Health opened similar outpatient care centers in Eatontown, Clark, Clifton and Paramus.
An apartment building is coming next door, with 230 apartments and shops and restaurants at street level. The apartment building will be built by DOR, which is a partnership of the Dinallo family, Onyx Equities and Russo Development.
“MetroPark is now not only home to the first healthcare facility at a train station, but it also features Vermella Metropark, which will be managed by our partner Russo Development, with whom we also own Vermella Woodbridge,” said John Saraceno, who co-founded Onyx Equities with Jonathan Schultz.
The entire project received a $110-million tax credit from Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, as part of a push from the state to turn train stations into transit-oriented development (TOD), places where people live and work.
“The new Health & Wellness Center at MetroPark is exactly the kind of smart, forward-looking investment our state needs,” said Gov. Mikie Sherrill. “By locating this center steps from a major transit hub and incorporating new housing, we are advancing transit-oriented development that makes it easier for residents to live, work and access care without relying on a car.”
Approximately 60,000 Amtrak and NJ Transit commuters travel through the MetroPark train station each month.
Opening the Health & Wellness Center there is Hackensack Meridian’s $200-million investment to reach them.
“You know that doctor’s appointment you’ve been putting off, the annual screening, the bloodwork, the nagging cough you’ve been meaning to have checked out?” said Hackensack Meridian Health in this April 29 press release announcing the grand opening. “Life is busy and something, whether it’s work or family commitments, often gets in the way of these critical but easily postponed appointments … Built alongside NJ Transit’s second busiest train station, with extended hours, (we) offer patients the flexibility to pop in for a quick appointment before commuting to work, or after commuting home in the evening.”
Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett said he thinks it’s the first medical building in the nation to be built right next to a major mass transit hub.
“We expect it will be a model emulated across the country,” he said.
Relocating their corporate headquarters there will also allow Hackensack Meridian to recruit top talent from across the entire Northeast Corridor, with employees easily able to commute from major cities such as New York and Philadelphia.
Expect to see future development like this in New Jersey: Last October, NJ Transit said it wants to start generating non-fare revenue by opening up its vast real estate portfolio to development. NJ Transit owns huge chunks of land around its train stations and rail yards.