As of June 2026, the Hackensack Meridian Health and Wellness Center at Metropark is open and treating patients, having moved from construction site to operating facility in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Billed as the nation’s first comprehensive health center built inside a major transit hub, the $200 million project marked its arrival with a ribbon cutting on April 29, 2026, attended by state, county and local officials. The building now offers urgent care, primary care, advanced imaging, specialty services and rehabilitation, all arranged to fit the daily routines of the tens of thousands of commuters who pass through Metropark Station on NJ Transit and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor each day. Hackensack Meridian Health framed the opening as a template it expects to see copied across the country.
Metropark Project Scale, Headquarters and Jobs
The finished complex turned out larger than the figure first reported. While the health and wellness portion covers the originally cited 60,000 square feet, the full building rises to roughly 240,000 square feet across multiple floors, with about 142,916 square feet given over to office space. The upper floors now house Hackensack Meridian Health’s consolidated network headquarters, relocated from Edison and bringing the system’s non clinical staff under one roof for the first time since the 2016 merger that created the network. The project reached its topping off milestone in April 2025 before fitting out through the rest of the year. Local officials have said the development is expected to generate at least 1,000 jobs for the region, and it ranks among the first projects delivered under NJ Transit’s LAND Plan, the agency’s strategy for earning revenue from underused real estate around its stations.
What the Metropark Opening Means for the North Jersey Care Market
The opening lands in an increasingly crowded contest for suburban patients. Hackensack Meridian Health and rival RWJBarnabas Health have spent years opening facilities in high traffic locations, and the Metropark debut arrives just weeks before RWJBarnabas opened its own Melchiorre Cancer Center in Livingston, a $225 million oncology hub that anchors a separate $1.5 billion expansion. Hackensack Meridian has positioned Metropark within a broader $3 billion investment in ambulatory care sites, urgent care locations and hospital expansions. The transit hub model, which removes the need for a car to reach care, is the differentiator HMH is betting will set the standard for how large systems reach commuters and dense suburban populations.
Next Phase at Metropark and Outlook
With the medical building and headquarters complete, the development team is turning to the next phase of the Metropark redevelopment. Plans call for a residential building with ground level retail and restaurants and roughly 230 to 235 apartments, a portion of which will be set aside as low income housing under the project’s incentive terms. The wider scheme, developed by the DOR partnership, is designed to convert underused land near the station into a walkable, transit centered community. As residential density rises around Metropark, Hackensack Meridian has said the wellness center is positioned to absorb the growing demand for convenient care.
Project Overview
- Project Name: Hackensack Meridian Health and Wellness Center at Metropark
- Location: Iselin section of Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey
- Developer/Owner: Hackensack Meridian Health (occupier); DOR partnership (developer)
- Total Cost/Value: $200 million
- Scale/Capacity: Roughly 240,000 square feet total, including about 60,000 square feet of medical space and about 142,916 square feet of office space
- Construction Start: Broke ground in 2024
- Expected Completion: Opened April 29, 2026
- Funding/Financing: Private development supported by a New Jersey ASPIRE program tax credit
- Current Status: Open and operating; corporate headquarters relocated into upper floors
- Key Milestone: Ribbon cutting held April 29, 2026, following an April 2025 topping off
Project Team
- Hackensack Meridian Health: Healthcare occupier and headquarters tenant
- DOR (Dinallo Development, Onyx Equities, Russo Development): Development partnership
- Terminal Construction: Construction contractor
- Russo Development: Co developer and residential phase manager
- Onyx Equities: Co developer
- Dinallo Development: Co developer
- NJ Transit: Station owner and landowner under the LAND Plan
- New Jersey Economic Development Authority: ASPIRE tax credit provider
- Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP: Legal counsel on tax credits and incentives
- JLL: Brokered the Hackensack Meridian lease
- Woodbridge Township: Local government partner
Reported 13th March 2024: A new Hackensack Meridian Health center is set to be built at a mass transit hub in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The first of its kind, the new facility will span 60,000 square feet and is located at one of the busiest terminals along the Northeast Corridor rail system. The facility is part of a larger redevelopment of Metropark Station led by the governor, Phil Murphy. Furthermore, he has brought forth the modernization of transportation hubs in the state that would make them multi-use locations for residential, office, retail, and restaurants.
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Cost of the facility and services offered
The US$200 million facility will offer services including primary care, medical specialties, surgical specialties, a sports and spine center of excellence. Additionally, advanced imaging, phlebotomy, rehabilitation services, a retail pharmacy, occupational health services and an urgent care. The complex qualifies for the multi-use platform under the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s ASPIRE program. The program supports transformative development projects that incorporate community benefits. Such benefits have been featured in this project including connecting people to healthcare more efficiently. Moreover, stimulating mass transit use; and providing at least 20% low income housing.
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“Once again, New Jersey is pioneering a new model for supporting our families and communities as we break ground on the first ever comprehensive health care facility located at a major transit hub. This new Hackensack Meridian Health facility marks a major milestone both for the larger redevelopment of Metropark Station. Additionally, it realizes our Administration’s broader vision for the future of transportation and community health. I am pleased to join Hackensack Meridian Health today and applaud their continued work to provide vital health care to the people of New Jersey,” said Governor Phil Murphy.
Why build the center at a mass transit hub?
Hackensack Meridian is addressing a critical gap in healthcare access for suburban residents. Their new facility eliminates the need for personal vehicles to reach care, as it’s located directly at a transit hub. Furthermore, this pioneering model of care increases accessibility and recognizes the impact of everyday factors (like transportation) on a person’s health outcomes, setting a new standard for healthcare providers nationwide.
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Project team
This facility is a significant component of a larger development happening at Metropark Station. The project is overseen by DOR, a consortium fronted by Russo Development, and has received substantial tax credit support. Following the completion of the HMH Metropark building, further development will include a residential building with lower-level retail space and roughly 230 residential units.
The growing residential population around Metropark means a greater need for convenient healthcare services. The Hackensack Meridian Health and Wellness Center is perfectly positioned to meet the needs of this expanding community.