NYU looks to buy Hunter campus
Jane C. Timm
Issue date: 3/24/08 Section: University
NYU is planning to submit a proposal to buy Hunter College's Brookdale campus, part of the CUNY system, NYU spokeswoman Kelly Franklin said, although the use of the prospective campus has yet to be determined.
The City University of New York put out a request for proposals in December, asking for plans for how to develop the campus. Last week, it extended the deadline to May 22, allowing developers more time to prepare their proposals, CUNY spokesman Michael Arena said in an e-mail.
The New York Observer reported that the campus could come with a $250 million price tag.
Developers are required to build a New Julia Richman Education Complex on the Brookdale site and to "explore and submit alternatives and options for preservation or relocation of the Hunter dormitory," according to the Request for Proposal, released in December 2007.
The campus is currently home to an academic complex, dorms, a gymnasium and a retro bowling alley where the pins are re-set by hand.
NYU's 2031 plan calls for 6 million additional square feet by the university's bicentennial. Brookdale's 4.2-acre campus is approximately 182,830 square feet, according to the Request for Proposal, and would cover just 3 percent of NYU's projected space needs, but its zoning permits a maximum of nearly 1.2 million square feet.
With the acquirement of the Gramercy Green residence hall just six blocks away, the Brookdale purchase could add to the already present cluster of NYU facilities in the area. The NYU Medical Center, Dental College and the University Court and 26th Street residence halls are also in the area.
When asked if NYU was increasingly looking to the Health Corridor for further expansion, Franklin said the university was looking into many different possibilities inside the 20-minute commutable radius and that the Health Corridor was among them.
GSP freshman Kim Spadaro thinks that a midtown cluster is a great idea.
"Expanding uptown is a great way to utilize the city," she said. "There is a city above 14th Street."
Additional reporting by Ariel Siegel. Jane C. Timm is the university editor. E-mail her at jtimm@nyunews.com.
The City University of New York put out a request for proposals in December, asking for plans for how to develop the campus. Last week, it extended the deadline to May 22, allowing developers more time to prepare their proposals, CUNY spokesman Michael Arena said in an e-mail.
The New York Observer reported that the campus could come with a $250 million price tag.
Developers are required to build a New Julia Richman Education Complex on the Brookdale site and to "explore and submit alternatives and options for preservation or relocation of the Hunter dormitory," according to the Request for Proposal, released in December 2007.
The campus is currently home to an academic complex, dorms, a gymnasium and a retro bowling alley where the pins are re-set by hand.
NYU's 2031 plan calls for 6 million additional square feet by the university's bicentennial. Brookdale's 4.2-acre campus is approximately 182,830 square feet, according to the Request for Proposal, and would cover just 3 percent of NYU's projected space needs, but its zoning permits a maximum of nearly 1.2 million square feet.
With the acquirement of the Gramercy Green residence hall just six blocks away, the Brookdale purchase could add to the already present cluster of NYU facilities in the area. The NYU Medical Center, Dental College and the University Court and 26th Street residence halls are also in the area.
When asked if NYU was increasingly looking to the Health Corridor for further expansion, Franklin said the university was looking into many different possibilities inside the 20-minute commutable radius and that the Health Corridor was among them.
GSP freshman Kim Spadaro thinks that a midtown cluster is a great idea.
"Expanding uptown is a great way to utilize the city," she said. "There is a city above 14th Street."
Additional reporting by Ariel Siegel. Jane C. Timm is the university editor. E-mail her at jtimm@nyunews.com.
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