NYU is up on Downtown thanks to latest Metrotech leases


NYU is expanding its existing Polytechnic Institute to include two more buildings in Metrotech Center, a move that borough officials cheered as a magnet for Downtown development — and a sign that university is serious about Brooklyn.

NYU-Poly signed a 20-year lease with Forest City Ratner for space in Metrotech Center, a campus of 11 mixed-use buildings between Flatbush Avenue Extension and Jay Street, where space has recently been going cheap.

“The increased student population will be a boon for businesses and attract greater private investment to the area,” said Borough President Markowitz.

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NYU-Poly already owns academic buildings at 6 Metrotech and 5 Metrotech, a residence hall on Johnson Street, and admissions offices on Bridge Street.

“Expanding into buildings that flank the commons allows NYU-Poly to own the square, and imparts a more dynamic, vibrant feel to our campus,” said NYU-Poly President Jerry Hultin.

The land grab is part of Polytechnic’s 10-year, $38-million expansion and renovation plan, now in its second year, to accommodate a projected rise in enrollment.

Crain’s New York recently reported that NYU-Poly plans to expand enrollment by 40 percent, to 6,000 students, over the next four years

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