New York City has announced its plans for a new $1.6 billion life sciences campus to be located on the east side of Manhattan and administered in partnership with the City University of New York (CUNY).

SOM has been attached as the project lead for the SPARC Kips Bay development, which will transform the Brookdale Campus of Hunter College into a 1.5-million-square foot center for research, entrepreneurship, and education geared at local economic benefits and training young New Yorkers for careers in tech and the health sciences.

According to a press release, the project’s scope includes:

• NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue ambulatory care center.
• NYC Health + Hospitals simulation training center.
• DOE high school with a special focus on preparations for healthcare and other STEM careers.
• A new Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) Forensic Pathology Center that will be a "nation-leading training facility for forensic pathologists."
• Commercial office and laboratory space for the life sciences industry.

SOM will look to leverage its considerable expertise in healthcare design, including the recent New York Public Health Laboratory project in Harlem, in the delivery of SPARC, which is similar to the larger The 78 Innovation District currently planned for Chicago. 

The project will break ground in 2026 and result in $25 billion in economic impacts once it is completed, according to proponents. Construction is expected to end in 2031. In a press statement, Governor Kathy Hochul said the project will help cement New York as the "place where miracles are made."