SJP Properties Commences Construction of Nokia Bell Labs Headquarters at the HELIX NJ Innovation Center in New Brunswick

SJP Leads Transformation of Downtown New Brunswick as Dominant East Coast Research and Development District, Building the Most Advanced Electronics Lab in North America

SJP Properties Commences Construction of Nokia Bell Labs Headquarters at the HELIX NJ Innovation Center in New Brunswick

New Brunswick, N.J. July 2, 2025 — SJP Properties has commenced construction of the 10-story, 370,000-square-foot Nokia Bell Labs Headquarters at the H-2 site of the HELIX NJ in New Brunswick. The four-acre HELIX NJ Innovation District is master planned by DEVCO and situated directly across from the New Brunswick train station, offering Amtrak/Acela and NJ TRANSIT service. Aligned with New Brunswick’s transformation agenda, the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund has committed $50 million for a station modernization and expansion project scheduled to begin in late 2025.

HELIX NJ is a sustainable ecosystem where industry and academia unite to collaborate in research and development with a mandate to uncover the breakthroughs that will advance human innovation and wellbeing for decades to come. Nokia Bell Labs’ H-2 building is situated directly across from the H-1, home to the New Jersey Innovation HUB, Rutgers Translational Research, the Rutgers School of Medicine and plug and play lab space for industry, currently under construction and in close proximity to the recently completed Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center at the Rutgers Cancer Institute, both developed by DEVCO.

The H-2 property will feature highly efficient side core floor plates and varying slab-to-slab heights on some floors to accommodate experimentation. It will be the launchpad for acceleration in next-generation networks, advanced AI and software systems, industrial automation, and quantum and optical research.

Reaffirming its commitment to New Jersey while relocating from its Murray Hill, New Jersey campus, Nokia Bell Labs executed a long-term lease for the entire H-2 building in 2023. The property was awarded a $103-million New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) Aspire tax incentive package in March 2025. SJP will deliver the completed building in late 2027. The reimagining of the Nokia Bell Labs headquarters has been designed specifically to enable Nokia researchers to remain at the forefront of scientific inquiry.

The Nokia Bell Labs Headquarters is the latest in a series of developments in which SJP has enticed the most prominent of global enterprises to relocate from sprawling suburban campuses to ultra high-performance buildings in walkable, transit-oriented destinations. Unilever selected SJP’s 111 River Street in Hoboken for its 111,000-square-foot U.S. Headquarters, which opened earlier this month, following a custom buildout by SJP Project Solutions. Sanofi chose SJP’s M-Station West in Morristown for a newly developed 260,000-square-foot workplace which opened in May. Each property is distinguished by an unsurpassed technological infrastructure that enhances productivity while providing an inviting contemporary aesthetic. The combination of a prime workplace facility, convenient location with abundant lifestyle amenities, and array of commuting options for a seamless day-to-evening work/life integration, is a distinct competitive advantage that will enable employers to recruit and retain top talent.

“It is a duty as a real estate developer to ensure that the communities where we build not only stay strong but have the opportunity to grow stronger by developing future-proof workplaces that empower enterprises such as Nokia Bell Labs to remain at the leading edge of innovation,” said Steven J. Pozycki, Founder & CEO. “Creating, with our partners, commercial destinations of global significance that bring thousands of professionals together in the most accessible and desirable of municipalities enables local economies to thrive and reinforces New Jersey’s worldwide reputation for scientific discovery. We are confident with Nokia Bell Labs at its center, HELIX NJ will emerge as the dominant east coast research and development district.”

To bring the Nokia Bell Labs Headquarters development to fruition, SJP Properties assembled a complex multiparty team that includes:

  • HELIX Master Developer DEVCO (New Brunswick Development Corporation)
  • Financial partner Morgan Stanley (development)
  • PNC Bank (construction lender)
  • JLL (landlord representation team – Dan Loughlin, Blake Goodman, Dan Spero, Jason Benson, Peter Ladas)
  • Colliers (tenant representation team – Sam Horowitz, Chris Hovanec, Ray Iodice)
  • Newmark (equity partner representation team – Adam Spies, Chris Kramer)

“The addition of Nokia Bell Labs to the HELIX ecosystem is another step in creating a place that will foster innovation, discovery, and commercialization,” said Chris Paladino, President of DEVCO. “By putting brilliant people together in one place, we will change lives with the work that will be done here.”

“The start of construction on the new Nokia Bell Labs Headquarters at HELIX NJ marks a defining moment in New Brunswick’s ongoing evolution as a premier hub for research, innovation, and economic vitality,” said New Brunswick Mayor Jim Cahill. “This development reflects our City’s strong partnerships with industry leaders like Nokia, SJP Properties, and DEVCO, and underscores our commitment to fostering opportunities that create jobs, attract world-class talent, and enhance the quality of life for all who live, work, and study here.”

About Nokia

At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.

With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

 About SJP Properties

 Headquartered in New York City, SJP Properties is a vertically integrated commercial, residential, and industrial real estate owner, developer, investor, asset manager, construction manager and property manager. The expertise of the company’s core in-house team of professionals encompasses the entire development process, from site selection through coordination of tenant move-in for large multi-phase projects, including numerous Class A build-to-suit developments and individual tenant buildouts. Well known for the creation of unparalleled lifestyle-focused developments, SJP is committed to meticulous design and engineering development plans that reflect a keen understanding of market demand. Following successful industrial buildouts in the Tri-state area, SJP is expanding its warehousing portfolio across the Eastern Seaboard, most recently with an approximately seven-million-square-foot industrial development strategically located near the Port of Savannah.

Having sustained an unblemished track record of success, SJP has established relationships with many of the industry’s leading investors and financial institutions, providing unparalleled access to capital. For more information, call 212-335-2200 or visit www.sjpproperties.com.

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