The makeover of the old Avon site at 601 Midland Avenue is starting in earnest. New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe) announced its plan to move to the location in April of last year.
Last Thursday was the groundbreaking of the new 187,000 square foot campus. It will be home to NYBCe’s tri-state operations, including space for life sciences research, blood collections, processing and cell therapy manufacturing. The Rye campus is expected to be finished in mid to late 2024 and will be the first-ever single campus for NYBCe.
“I am pleased to welcome New York Blood Center and all its personnel to Rye,” said Rye Mayor Josh Cohn. “It is wonderful to have a new community member with such noble purpose and impact.”
“We are grateful to the Town of Rye and all of the community members and elected officials who joined us for today’s special event,” said Christopher D. Hillyer, MD, President and CEO, of New York Blood Center Enterprises. “We will transform the building into a state-of-the-art, multipurpose campus dedicated to life sciences research, blood collections, processing, distribution, specialty laboratories, and cell therapy manufacturing to support the public health of our region and fulfill our mission to provide life-saving healthcare across the globe.”
“Consigli is committed to building meaningful healthcare projects like the New York Blood Center, which will make a significant impact on the greater Westchester region and the individuals and families who will be served by its operation,” said Bill Allan, Consigli Construction Director of Operations – New York/Tri-State Region. “Through its new, state-of-the-art research and blood donation facilities, the New York Blood Center will deliver unparalleled support and care for patients, and we look forward to this continued, collaborative work alongside partners like G3 Architecture, AKF Group, Gardiner & Theobald and Cuono Engineering.”
For the groundbreaking, NYBCe was joined by New York State Assemblyman Steve Otis, Rye Mayor Josh Cohen, Rye City Manager Greg Usry, Deborah Novick Director of the Westchester County Executive’s Office, Consigli Construction Co., G3 Architecture Interiors Planning and George Comfort & Sons for the press conference and official groundbreaking event that marked the start of construction at the campus.
NYBCe is committed to research in areas of health and humanitarian causes with a global life saving impact. New York Blood Center Enterprises’s research arm, the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute (LFKRI), has advanced numerous groundbreaking innovations in clinical care and biotechnology.
The Avon Campus at 601 Midland
The groundbreaking represents a turn for the campus that started a downward in 2016 when Avon announced layoffs but assured the City its presence would remain. Two and a half years after that, in the fall of 2018, Avon said it would close its campus and sell the building. Less than a year later the campus was sold to George Comfort & Sons, whose CEO is Rye resident Peter S. Duncan. After some community concerns around zoning and land use, the new owners signed on the NYBCe as the tenant last year.
