The Aspire program was created to provide gap financing for enormous economic development projects that could have a transformative impact on the state — but would otherwise not be able to be completed.

That the first Aspire award would go to a project that aims to help build the innovation economy that Gov. Phil Murphy has championed since the days when he was candidate Murphy, is just a bonus for the administration.

On Wednesday, the board of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved a $271 million tax credit to support the development of what is being called the HELIX, the New Jersey Health + Life Sciences Exchange.

The HELIX, in downtown New Brunswick, will bringtogether a combination of public and private entities committed to translational research in life science in a 12-story, 573,400-square-foot building.

The building, with an estimated $750 million in capital investments, will have three major components.