Tel Aviv University No Longer Opening At The New Brunswick Helix

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Israel's Tel Aviv University is apparently no longer opening at the New Brunswick HELIX.

HELIX is the fancy new glass building that just opened right across from the New Brunswick train station. It is available to rent for tech/bio start-ups.

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Chris Paladino, president of the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), told Rutgers student newspaper, the Daily Targum, this week that Tel Aviv University will no longer rent space at the HELIX.

"They're not a tenant, they're not a subtenant," Paladino told the student newspaper. "There's no intention that (Tel Aviv University) is going to take space."

In 2021, the presidents of Tel Aviv University and Rutgers signed a memorandum of understanding that said Tel Aviv University would not only rent physical space inside the HELIX, but that the world's two leading universities would share research and lab breakthroughs.

Also, as recently as September, the Israeli university was listed as a tenant on the HELIX website.

What happened?

Paladino said the plans fell through. He blamed it on the pandemic.

The Daily Targum also reported that in September, pro-Palestine protesters were protesting Tel Aviv University's involvement at the HELIX.

"I respect (activists) right to protest. I empathize with their cause," said Paladino. "I understand a lot of the issues around Gaza, and I do sympathize with it. I empathize with it."

The HELIX will consist of three buildings; Building H-1, H-2 and H-3. Building H-1 is already open and has companies that have been renting lab space there since the summer. They are mostly small companies that work in biotech, pharmaceutical, AI and computers and medical research. Amazon Web Services will run cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) services out of HELIX.

In the future, Building H-1 will also become the new home of Rutgers Medical School.

Johnson & Johnson will rent space at the HELIX and Nokia Bell Labs plans to leave their Berkeley Heights headquarters and relocate to the HELIX in 2028, occupying all of the second tower, building H-2.

Building H-3 is planned to be all high-rise apartments.

This is an article from 2021, when Rutgers first announced Tel Aviv University was coming to New Brunswick: Tel Aviv University The Newest Tenant At Rutgers' Tech Hub