ESDC To Further Columbia's 7M-SF Expansion Plan

[IMGCAP(1)]NEW YORK CITY-The Empire State Development Corp. board of directors has adopted the Columbia University General Project Plan and authorized a public hearing to formally approve the University’s proposed expansion this fall. The $6.28-billion Manhattanville expansion project, which has had some opposition from local Harlem residents, who worry about displacement, will add up to 6.8 million sf of new facilities in up to 16 new buildings and in an adaptively reused existing building.

In adopting the plan, the ESDC board accepted the findings of a neighborhood conditions study conducted by the consulting firm AKRF Inc. and an audit of that study by Earth Tech Inc. “Both reports found that the area surrounding the project’s 17 buildings was mainly characterized by aging, poorly maintained and functionally obsolete industrial buildings, with little indication of recent reinvestment to revive their generally deteriorated conditions,” according to a prepared statement.

[IMGCAP(2)]The ESDC’s mission is to “provide the assistance and service to businesses in order to encourage economic investment and prosperity in New York State.” As part of that mission, according to an anonymous urban affairs professional in New York City, among other things, “the agency can override zoning, exercise eminent domain and condemn property.