Metropark: From Transit Hub to Health Hub

May 20, 2026May 20, 2026

Rendering of pedestrians in front of the improved Metropark Station. Courtesy of Russo Development/Hackensack Meridian Health

A new development at Metropark Station in Woodbridge Township highlights an innovative partnership between NJ TRANSIT and private companies. Phase one—the Hackensack Meridian Health and Wellness Center—opened in April 2026. Phase two—residential and retail space—is now under construction. Through a 99-year ground lease with the developer, NJ TRANSIT promotes transit-oriented development (TOD) on agency-owned land while piloting new approaches to increase non-fare revenue (Russell & Wilson, 2024).

Redevelopment at Metropark

Aerial view of the Metropark Redevelopment Area before redevelopment, showing the Northeast Corridor and Metropark Station. The location was mostly parking lots. — Aerial view of the Metropark Redevelopment Area before redevelopment, showing the Northeast Corridor and Metropark Station. Map by NJTOD

Metropark is a major transportation hub on the Northeast Corridor. The station is served by NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak rail service and six NJ TRANSIT bus routes, including a daily regional route and five Metropark Loops—local weekday routes linking it to sites in Woodbridge and Edison (NJ TRANSIT, n.d.-a). It is one of New Jersey’s busiest stations. From July 2024 to June 2025, an average of 3,702 riders boarded each weekday (NJ TRANSIT, 2025b).

Woodbridge Township designated a 12.4-acre parcel adjacent to Metropark Station as an Area in Need of Redevelopment in 2008, allowing NJ TRANSIT to explore redevelopment opportunities. In 2020, NJ TRANSIT opened a Request for Qualifications for developers to build mixed-use TOD on the property. Owned solely by NJ TRANSIT, the land was previously used for commuter parking. In 1997, NJ TRANSIT completed a $31.2 million project that doubled the available parking by adding two new structured decks (NJ TRANSIT, 1997). However, demand for parking has declined in recent years; in 2022, at least 20 percent of the 3,500 spaces in the structured decks were vacant every day (Township of Woodbridge, 2022).

The Metropark site was a larger surface parking lot and a parking deck in the older image. In the new image, it is an under-construction development and completed Health and Wellness Center — The Metropark site from the intersection of Wood Avenue & Middlesex Turnpike. Top: Underutilized surface lots in October 2022. Bottom: Metropark Health and Wellness Center and Vermella Metropark under construction in October 2025. Courtesy of Google Street View

Hackensack Meridian Health and Wellness Center

The development is transforming two underutilized surface lots into buildings with residential, office, and retail space, while station area improvements will enhance access to transit. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority awarded the project $113.65 million in Aspire tax credits, a real estate development incentive that finances up to 50 percent of eligible costs or $60 million (NJEDA, n.d.; 2024). Metropark’s redevelopment will improve health care access, promote transit use, and provide affordable housing (HMH, 2024).

Low income, people with disabilities, and those without access to a vehicle are most likely to miss a health care visit due to a lack of transportation options. — The completed Health and Wellness Center. Courtesy of Hackensack Meridian Health

The Hackensack Meridian Health and Wellness Center houses the health system’s new administrative headquarters alongside comprehensive medical services. In March 2024, Hackensack Meridian Health broke ground on the project and in April 2025 a “topping-off” ceremony marked the building’s structural completion (Baldwin, 2025; Fry, 2024; HMH, 2024). The $200 million Health and Wellness Center is expected to create 1,000 jobs in the Woodbridge area.

A “first-of-its-kind facility,” the Health and Wellness Center co-locates comprehensive medical care with a major transit hub (Fry, 2024; HMH, 2024; Russell & Wilson, 2024). The 242,000-square-foot building includes over 60,000 square feet of health care services, such as:

Primary and specialty care
On-site imaging
Phlebotomy labs
Rehabilitation and physical therapy
Urgent care
Retail pharmacy (Fry, 2024; NJ TRANSIT, n.d.-c; RSC Architects, n.d.).

Rendering of the Vermella Metropark apartments from the railway. Courtesy of Rotwein + Blake

Three more floors of office space consolidate Hackensack Meridian Health’s headquarters staff into a single building (Baldwin, 2025; RSC Architects, n.d.; Russell & Wilson, 2024).

Next door, construction is underway on Vermella Metropark. This 517,000-square-foot building will include ground-floor retail space and 245 residential units, 20 percent of which will be affordable (NJ TRANSIT, n.d.-c; Rotwein + Blake, n.d.; RSC Architects, n.d.). Additional station improvements will enhance safety, comfort, and circulation at Metropark. These upgrades include improved pedestrian crossings; new lighting, landscaping, murals, shelters, and benches; along with bus bays and bicycle storage that support multimodal access (NJ TRANSIT, n.d.-b).

Renderings of station area improvements at Metropark, including bus shelters and bus bays, murals, and landscaping. — Renderings of station area improvements at Metropark, including bus shelters and bus bays (left) and murals and landscaping (right). Courtesy of NJ TRANSIT

Health Equity & TOD

Health Care Transportation Barriers — Share of adults ages 18 to 64 who missed or skipped a scheduled health care visit in the past 12 months because of difficulties finding transportation

People in suburban areas often rely on cars to access health services, which can hinder adequate care (HMH, 2024; Ladika, 2024; Smith et al., 2023). In 2022, five percent of adults missed scheduled appointments due to transportation barriers (Smith et al., 2023). Certain populations—such as low-income, publicly insured, or uninsured adults; people with disabilities; and those without a vehicle—are disproportionately affected by transportation barriers. Neighborhood conditions also affect health care access. Respondents were more likely to miss care when public transportation or non-driving travel options were limited.

Some providers partner with rideshare services to help people reach doctors’ offices (Ladika, 2024). Hackensack Meridian Health, however, brought health care services to where people already are. With comprehensive services at a major transit hub, transit users can access health care by bus and train (DiNardo, 2024; Ladika, 2024). In addition, the Wellness Center’s extended hours enable commuters to receive services on their way to and from work (Ladika, 2024).

Let’s assume for a minute you are a mom or dad and you live in Rahway. You have some kind of life-threatening disease, and you don’t have a car. You’re a 10-minute train ride from here. That’s going to change people’s lives.”
— Former Governor Phil Murphy (qtd. in Russell & Wilson, 2024)

Creating Health Hubs

While the Metropark redevelopment is NJ TRANSIT’s first comprehensive health center at a major transit hub, it reflects a broader trend integrating housing, health care, and transit. Hospital-oriented development (HOD) is a model for mixed-use, walkable communities anchored by health institutions (Aulestia, 2020). Hospitals—major destinations and economic anchors—attract patients, visitors, and staff who benefit from HOD. Along with strengthening connections between medical facilities and their neighborhoods, HOD helps hospitals reach community health and well-being goals. Like TOD, HOD relies on transit and dense, walkable communities to achieve these outcomes.

UHealth-Jackson Metrorail station in Miami, with the two towers that will be demolished for the redevelopment in the background. In the foreground is a train. — UHealth-Jackson Metrorail station in Miami, with the two towers that will be demolished for the redevelopment in the background. Courtesy of Marchante & San Juan

Started in 2018, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency’s Hospital Partnership Subsidy Program enables hospitals and developers to collaborate on affordable housing (Burd, 2024). Projects have been completed in Paterson and Newark, with more underway. The program aims to lower emergency room usage by offering low-income residents safe housing with on-site health and social services. Though less focused on transit than the Metropark redevelopment, the initiative shows a growing emphasis on improving health care access.

In Miami, the Jackson Health System plans to transform office buildings into a mixed-use development with retail, a daycare, an extended-stay hotel, and over 800 housing units (Marchante & San Juan, 2025). Improvements are also planned for the nearby UHealth-Jackson Metrorail station. Located in Miami’s Health District, the site is near several health care facilities. The housing units will be a mix of affordable, workforce, and market-rate housing, with priority for health care workers. By integrating housing, health care, and transit, the Jackson Health System will generate income from a ground lease.

NJ TRANSIT’s LAND Plan—rolled out in October 2025—projects up to $1.9 billion in non-fare revenue over the next 30 years through the strategic use of more than 8,000 acres of agency land (Krosnowski, 2025; Moss, 2025; NJ TRANSIT, 2025a). Up to $1.1 billion of this revenue would come from TOD projects. The Metropark redevelopment shows how TOD on NJ TRANSIT-owned land benefits both the agency and the community. As more communities focus on health access and equity, this project offers a framework for transit hubs throughout New Jersey seeking to become comprehensive health hubs.

View Hackensack Meridan Health’s video feature on the new Metropark facility.

Sources

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