Kessler Institute Readies $26M Expansion

WEST ORANGE, NJ-The Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation is set to start construction of a new 102,000-sf wing at its main campus here. The expansion carries a price tag of $26 million and will take about 15 months to complete, according to Vincent Knoll, vice president of asset management, design and construction.

Kessler has hired the Gale Construction Co. as the construction manager for the project, marking the latest of several projects the construction arm of the Florham Park, NJ-based Gale Co. has done for the institute. Kessler provides physical rehabilitation services.

“This project represents the fifth and largest construction assignment in our ongoing relationship with Kessler over the past seven years,” says Thomas J. Walsh, president of Gale Construction. The earlier projects include a 10,000-sf renovation at the institute’s facility in Cedar Grove, NJ; renovations to a total of 32,000 sf in Saddle Brook and West Orange, NJ; and an owner’s rep assignment managing a 75,000-sf project in Rockville, MD.

The expansion here will include a new main entrance to the entire facility, according to Knoll. Also part of the plan are a new 48-bed spinal cord unit and a brain injury unit.