The $150 million Wexford Innovation Complex broke ground on former Interstate 95 land in Providence recently and is expected to create a hub of entrepreneurship for research, medical and biotech industries for the city and state.

"For too long, the I-195 land was nothing but dirt," Gov. Gina Raimondo (D-RI) said at the Sept. 25 groundbreaking. "Today marks the start of something transformational, not just for this land, but for our state and its economy.”

Shawmut Design and Construction Co. was selected as the general contractor for the two-phase project expected to take approximately two years, said a spokesman for Gov. Raimondo. Ayers Saint Gross is the architect.

The nearly 195,000-sq-ft complex’s tenants will include the Brown University School of Professional Studies, Johnson & Johnson’s health and technology center and the Cambridge Innovation Center. The Cambridge Innovation Center plans to locate an 8,000-sq-ft Innovation Hall and non-profit Venture Cafe-dedicated civic spaces modeled after the center’s District Hall in the Seaport District of Boston, where entrepreneurs can gather and exchange ideas.