NYU-Poly Expands Campus in Brooklyn’s MetroTech Center
Leases 120,000 Rentable Square Feet as Part of its $38M Capital Plan; Consistent with NYU’s Efforts to Develop Academic Space Outside of Greenwich Village
In an important step to fulfill NYU’s city-wide strategic vision for expansion of its academic facilities, NYU’s engineering affiliate, the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly), will expand into neighboring space in Downtown Brooklyn’s MetroTech Center.
The move is part of NYU-Poly’s $38 million capital plan, called the i2e Campus Transformation – where the “i2e” stands for invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. The expansion into MetroTech will allow NYU-Poly to accommodate faculty offices, dry computational labs, small classrooms, and administrative functions, while freeing up space in current facilities for renovation and potential redevelopment.
“MetroTech Center has a great central commons area,” said NYU-Poly President Jerry Hultin. “Expanding into buildings that flank the commons creates a better presence of NYU-Poly in the square, and imparts a more dynamic, vibrant feel to our campus.”
NYU-Poly is entering into a 20-year lease with real estate developer Forest City Ratner Companies for a total of 120,000 rentable square feet of space at 2 MetroTech and 15 MetroTech, which also involves a 9-year sub-lease of space from Wellpoint Insurance.
The space will house two academic departments, Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), as well as Provost Operations, academic spaces and administrative functions. Renovations to the space, on the 9th and 10th floors of 2 MetroTech, are expected to begin this summer.
“We welcome NYU-Poly’s expanded presence at MetroTech,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “NYU-Poly will draw students from all over the world as it puts Downtown Brooklyn on the map as a top destination for cutting edge technology and research. The increased student population will be a boon for businesses and attract greater private investment to the area, which will strengthen Downtown Brooklyn as the city's third-largest business district.”
NYU 2031 is a city-wide academic space strategy set in motion more than four years ago that provides a roadmap for meeting NYU’s academic space needs between now and the university’s 200th anniversary in 2031. Half of the total square footage will be located in NYU’s core and half spread over three remote locations beyond Washington Square and Lower Manhattan – along Manhattan’s Eastside health corridor, in Downtown Brooklyn, and on Governors Island.
“This new lease at MetroTech is an integral part of our Downtown Brooklyn initiative,” said Lynne Brown, Senior Vice President for University Relations and Public Affairs. “Our first priority is to enhance the current campus environment and facilities and then move forward with plans for smart growth around the Poly campus. The result of this transformation will be a vibrant, 24/7 community for NYU students, faculty and the Downtown Brooklyn community.”
Inextricably linked to NYU-Poly’s academic plan, the i2e Campus Transformation is critical to accommodating projected growth, attracting top-level faculty and high-achieving students and firmly establishing the Institute as a world-class center of applied science, technology and engineering.
Now in the second year of the 10-year campus transformation to upgrade its facilities, NYU-Poly already has completed several initiatives, including: the building of the new Center of Innovation for Technology and Entertainment (CITE), made possible by a $2 million New York state grant, on the ground floor of the Bern Dibner Library Building; the renovation of the main corridor of Rogers Hall, complete with a high-tech information hub; and significant upgrades to the information systems infrastructure.
Among future projects slated for the i2e Campus Transformation are: the renovation of Rogers Hall, the heart of the NYU-Poly campus; to upgrade current laboratories for new faculty hires; the possible redevelopment of the Jacobs Administration and Civil Engineering building sites; and the allocation of funds to address critical life/safety and deferred maintenance issues in its current facilities on an ongoing basis.
NYU-Poly-owned buildings that round out the rest of the Downtown Brooklyn campus include: 6 MetroTech, the Jacobs Academic Building and Rogers Hall complex; 5 MetroTech, the Bern Dibner Library Building; Othmer Residence Hall at 101 Johnson Street; and the historic Wunsch Building at 311 Bridge Street.
In other NYU 2031 news relating to growth outside Greenwich Village, it was announced today that NYU has chosen EYP Architecture & Engineering and Kohn, Pedersen, Fox Associates (KPF) to design a new, 170,000 square-foot school along the University’s existing First Avenue Health Corridor on Manhattan’s East Side. The school will be the new home for NYU’s College of Nursing, which is currently located in Washington Square, will provide expanded facilities for the College of Dentistry, and will create space for a new multi-school bioengineering program.
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