New York billionaire Bill Ackman, known for his contrarian Wall Street bets, has just embarked on a very different sort of venture: Building a major research center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side dedicated to understanding the brain. The project, which was inspired by a recent family ordeal, will be housed in a 400,000-square-foot building at 125 West End Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side that Ackman’s Pershing Square Foundation purchased this week for $190 million.
The foundation also signed a contract to buy an adjoining building at 320 West 66th Street for $70 million that, along with his purchase of additional development rights, means the total facility could span nearly 700,000 square feet upon completion.
Currently, the structure on West End Avenue houses a life sciences and research campus known as West End Labs. In time, it will become the Ackman Oxman Institute, named for the billionaire and his wife Neri Oxman, and bring together experts who will undertake a comprehensive study of the brain—focusing on everything from rehab to longevity to nutrition, according to Ackman…