Merger Could Ease Some NYU Expansion Needs

NEW YORK CITY-After several years of talks, trustees at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn have approved a merger with New York University with an overwhelming majority after a key vote on Thursday. The long-range goal is that Polytechnic will become a school of engineering and technology of NYU. The merger will require approval from New York State regulatory agencies.

NYU is currently looking to expand its facilities by six million gross sf for housing and academic facilities and has mentioned that the Polytechnic campus is on its radar as a potential area for remote growth. As GlobeSt.com recently reported at a Association of Real Estate Women’s luncheon, Lynne Brown, SVP for University Relations and Public Affairs at NYU, told attendees that one of the areas they were looking for space included the Downtown Brooklyn MetroTech campus among other locations.

Polytechnic’s MetroTech campus is located in Downtown Brooklyn; however, it also has graduate centers in Long Island, Westchester and Manhattan. Although Polytechnic and NYU sources could not respond to queries by deadline, an anonymous industry source tells GlobeSt.com that “should the merger go through, it would relieve some of NYU’s space issues in Manhattan. However, someone attending NYU–and paying its tuition–would typically not be interested in traveling to Brooklyn, so it will not be an answer to a lot of their space needs issues.”