Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Foundation will pay $260 million to acquire two Upper West Side buildings that will house a brain research facility, according to published reports. The foundation acquired 125 West End Ave., which currently houses a 400,000-square-foot life sciences and research campus known as West End Labs, for $190 million, and has signed a $70-million contract for the neighboring 320 W. 66th St., along with additional development rights.

If Ackman exercises the development rights, the brain research facility could span 700,000 square feet at full buildout, Fortune magazine reported. To be known as the Ackman Oxman Institute, the complex could eclipse the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and other significant health research facilities in New York City.

The timeline for the research center’s opening is not known. However, it will be developed in partnership with Mount Sinai Hospital System. The Ackman Oxman Institute’s board is working on hiring its first CEO, Ackman told Fortune.

Pictured: West End Labs. Photo courtesy of Taconic Investment Partners.

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