J&J's location in NB is immediately adjacent to Rutgers' College Avenue campus and right across the street from a NJT station; it is an awesome location.

These are just guesses, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong:

1. New Jersey has the highest number of engineers and scientists per square mile in the US.

2. Central NJ is … well … pretty central. It’s relatively close to Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, and DC.

3. Pharma is huge in our state, and there are many suppliers of raw materials close by.

4. I’m not sure on this one, but I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the State gives Pharma a lot of incentives to stay.

Besides what the others have said, they made a deal with the city 40 years ago to stay if the city improved transportation (Rt18) and the city in general. Since then New Brunswick Tomorrow has very effectively rebuilt much of the city, added many high rise apartments etc. There are eateries of all types, theaters, hotels, hospitals etc that are walking distance to JnJ and infrastructure. Meanwhile, Rutgers has expanded in many directions which includes a school of pharmacy.

Worst in what sense?

Yup! Plus they have the leeway to keep their campus exactly how they want it. If you look carefully at the curbs and sidewalks all around J&J’s headquarters, you’ll notice the curbs are Belgian block, which is difficult to maintain. They made a deal with the city that they could have it there if they maintained it. The headquarters was designed by I.M. Pei (or more accurately his colleague Henry M Cobb, chairman of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design), and Pei contributed significantly to a fresh master plan for the city in 1974. To my knowledge, J&J has been a pretty solid partner to the city for decades now and encourages its employees to spend time volunteering in the local community. I’m guessing they probably like being a big deal in New Brunswick. (I don’t have any particular knowledge on the J&J side, just family in urban planning in New Brunswick.)

It's not like the company has to send kids to the local publics. What would be the point of spending a ton just to be in a high end suburb?

[deleted]

You need to remember the area was not built up when they started and the Johnson family owned most of the land at that time. It would not surprise me if there was a lease back agreement in place for many of their locations in NJ allowing the family to have continued revenue streams.

They have other locations other than nb in the general area. Also, they own the land and the buildings

Yea, but why do so?

worst? one of the best

Just like Campbell’s Soup HQ is in Camden.

The company has been at that site since 1886. It's centrally located between NYC and Philly and has access to the Raritan River and the Delaware-Raritan Canal. Since they actually own the property and don't rent office space like a lot of large companies, moving represents a significant cost.

That aside, the company did consider moving back in the 70's when the area was far worse than it is today. Leadership decided that the company has a responsibility to the community it's located in, so they partnered with the city to invest and make significant infrastructure improvements.

Revenue and the land has increased substantially in value. If sold, huge capital gains.

The executives live in Somerset hills region, which is arguably the most elite area in NJ

Why would they relocate? Relocation of a company HQ is extremely complicated. Everything from finding a location, to attrition from displacing employees, to negotiating with local tax authorities, costs and expense of relocation, company morale, vendor contracts, etc., etc. It’s not like moving a bagel shop.

Yes, I worked at a suburban facility West of there many years ago. Why move 30 minutes away?

seems weird to you and perfectly fine for them.

J&J have been there forever, long before any of the areas you mentioned were what they are today. For example, Merck has been in Rahway since forever, and that town has had its ups and downs. When you have such a huge campus it's almost impossible to pick up and move, especially in Jersey, since real estate is so expensive.

It's a walkable city with nice places for workers to get lunch. Near the highways but has a train. The places you mentioned like Bridgewater lack the train and walkability. Princeton has a train but it's further from the city and not as central. And it's land is super expensive.

New Brunswick is awesome fuck the haters. Some ppl are so afraid of crime they can't enjoy a nice urban setting. It's safe and pleasant and way more interesting the most of NJ

But then they'd still have to buy a similar amount of land for a new place.not like Princeton or some place similar is any cheaper than new Brunswick.