http://www.hdmagazine.co.uk/story.as...ryCode=2048754
Healthcare skyscraper to be built in Manhattan
13 November 2008
By Joanne Makosinski, Editor HD
THE world’s-first permanent international marketplace and education centre for the healthcare supplies industry will
dominate the skyline in midtown Manhattan in less than five years, it has been announced.
Plans for the 60-storey, £1 billion World Product Centre (WPC), as it will be known, have recently been agreed following the appointment of Extell Development Company as the build contractor. A joint marketing company has also been formed between owner WPC and GNYHA Ventures, a leading healthcare business services company owned by the Greater New York Hospital Association.
“We can reveal we are moving steadily forward with this exciting endeavour”, said Israel Green, WPC president and visionary of the centre.
Under the plans, a custom-built 60-storey, 1.5 million sq ft tower will be built on the corner of 33rd Street and 11th Avenue, serving the commercial and educational needs of healthcare suppliers and providers from across the globe. Featured companies will represent all areas of the global industry, including medical devices, diagnostics, technology, pharmaceuticals and healthcare services.
Current designs include more than 120,000sq ft of education and conference space, including a two-storey, 499-seat, fully-digitalised auditorium. There will also be permanent showrooms, media centres and office space, as well as a ‘consumer health pavilion’, which will be open to the general public and will offer guided tours, interactive forums and a wealth of healthcare information.
“WPC is a direct response to the evolving needs of the healthcare marketplace, which is worth $336m in global sales of medical devices alone”, said Lee Perlman, president of GNYHA Ventures.
“With ever-growing pressures on hospitals, long-term care facilities and other healthcare organisations to cut costs and increase quality, providers wrestle daily with how to stay current with innovation and make well-informed purchasing decisions.
“Among its numerous benefits, WPC solves these challenges. It offers a new, cost-effective and transparent environment for bringing purchasers and sellers together to transact business.”
John Strong, former president and chief executive of purchasing group Consorta, is now president of the marketing arm of the venture. He said: “WPC is the most-unique, exciting and groundbreaking project in my 35 years in the healthcare business. It will offer the industry a dynamic commercial environment for partnership and collaboration as well as resources to enhance education. This is a new concept; there is nothing like it.”
Its chosen location is said to help address a huge gap in accommodation for healthcare companies in New York City.
Gary Barnett, chief executive of Extell Development, said: “New York City is a global capital, accustomed to hosting domestic and international visitors, all of which will be supported by this highly-advantageous site. WPC will provide companies, whether they be from America or around the world, with a unique opportunity to showcase and conduct business in one of the most-important healthcare markets in the world.”