Progress is well underway at a 13-acre, mixed-use campus in Jersey City that biotech industry leaders anticipate will bolster the Garden State’s stature as a life science and medical innovator.

That’s the still-in-the-works nexus for life sciences and innovation called the Cove. The collaborative project by Argent Ventures and H&R REIT — backed on the design side by Ennead Architects as designers and the marketing and leasing side by Nancy J Kelley + Associates — aspires to transform an urban site into a flagship destination for regional laboratory spaces and commercial life science offices.

Oh, and they’re pairing it all with an almost equally large residential development and an even larger waterfront park — to bring to life the oft-discussed live-work-play community of the future.

It’s a heavy lift. But Kelley said the Cove’s development team is on track to complete key infrastructure improvements this year “and perhaps break ground on our residential tower as well” by the year’s end.

“Since announcing this project last April, we had a launch event in September that was well attended, we had the Governor’s Office, the mayor’s office and all the life science companies in Jersey City coming together to talk about building a cluster there,” said Nancy J. Kelley, CEO and president of Nancy J Kelley + Associates.

In the meantime, Kelley said the firm has had many conversations with academic institutions and other institutional players to provide an anchor for the development — as well as for-profit companies interested in being part of an innovation community like this.

“This will unfold over seven to 10 years, depending on how fast interest in leasing goes,” she said. “It’s a large project that will proceed in phases. It’s something that will last quite a while.”

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