A healthcare investment management firm and a non-profit organization focused on economic development in New York plan to create a life sciences hub in the heart of the city, with extra help from a Chicago-based healthcare startup incubator.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation, or NYCEDC, and New York-based Deerfield Management said Thursday that the latter would invest $635 million to create a life sciences campus in the city, designed to bring together academia, government, industry and non-profit organizations.

A 300,000-square foot, 12-story building on Park Avenue will serve as the foundation of the project and be designated an NYCLifeSci campus. The NYCEDC said it would be the first of a series of investments designed to cultivate life sciences and digital health industries in the city. Deerfield will work in partnership with Chicago-based healthcare incubator MATTER.

“Creating an environment in which innovative thinking, groundbreaking advances in scientific discovery and where the development of new paradigms of patient care will occur every day is tremendously exciting,” Deerfield Managing Partner James Flynn said in a statement.

For its part, MATTER will work to support startups. The organization works to train C-suite executives early in their careers and introduce new companies to established organizations for the purposes of mentorship, collaboration and acquisition.

Much as Silicon Valley and the Seattle area have long been the primary epicenters of the digital technology sector, the biotechnology industry has mostly been centered around Boston and San Francisco, with their rich access to capital as well as academic institutions with strong bioscience programs. However, other areas have been expanding as well, such as San Diego, New York and Seattle.

Last month, life sciences developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities made a deal with the Seattle city government to buy a 2.86-acre parcel known as the Mercer Mega Block, in the South Lake Union neighborhood that is home to Amazon’s headquarters and a growing number of other companies. The development plan includes a mixed-use life sciences campus, and Alexandria would invest $143.5 million to develop it. Tenants of Alexandria already operating in South Lake Union include Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Gilead Sciences and the University of Washington.

Photo: a_Taiga, Getty Images