School of Visual Arts Leases High-Tech 55,000-SF Midtown Building

NEW YORK CITY-A new building going up in East Midtown will soon provide hard-wired housing for the expanding student body at the School for Visual Arts. The 55,000-sf property at 215 E. 23rd St., just leased by the school, will serve as a residence hall for 360 students. SVA plans to sublet 3,500 sf of ground-floor space to retail tenants.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources close to the transaction say SVA paid between $50 and $60 per sf, comparable to residential rents on that section of 23rd St. School officials say the retail space has not yet been marketed.

Located adjacent to the main campus at 209 E. 23rd St, the 22-story building, all of which has been leased by SVA, has a must-deliver deadline of January 2002, according to Ellen Clinesmith, SVA director of campus life. “We do know we are slated to check in students in January,” Clinesmith tells GlobeSt.com.