New facility to be named Iron Horse Labs after Lou Gehrig

New York Yankees legend Lou Gehrig, the “Iron Horse” who played in a then-record 2,130 consecutive games from 1925-1939, was born at 309 E. 94th St.

So it’s altogether appropriate that developer Elevate Research Properties, a subsidiary of Taconic Partners, plans to name a cutting-edge research facility it’s building at the site Iron Horse Labs. It’s a tribute to the great first baseman who died in 1941 at age 37, a victim of the paralyzing condition known as ALS, which is commonly called “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”

“His story can inspire life-saving research,” said Elevate president Matthew Weir.

The 200,000 square-foot project, reported here for the first time, will be leased as a potential “flagship opportunity to medical and scientific research organizations, life-science laboratories and academic medical institutions,” Weir said.

Elevate and its partners, Nuveen Real Estate and Flatiron Equities, bought the land for $70 million, part of their total $350 million development cost. The new building will have features such as a unique, double-height specialty research space, sophisticated energy-efficient systems and several outdoor terraces.

An exterior plaque at the site marking Gehrig’s birthplace, installed by the Yankees in the 1990s, is to be restored and re-installed in the lobby.

Iron Horse’s eight stories are to incorporate an existing five-story structure and new construction on the site of small buildings to be demolished. The facade design includes triangular sun-shading elements meant to resemble baseball pennants.

Elevate also owns two other Manhattan science facilities — West End Labs at 125 West End Ave. and Hudson Research Center at 619 W. 54th St. But Iron Horse, to be completed in 2025, has the advantage of being close to the East 96th Street Q train station and to medical institutions nearby such as Mount Sinai, Rockefeller University and Weill Cornell.

“It could be leased to a single institution but the infrastructure makes it suitable for multiple tenants as well,” Weir said.