A Columbia spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the university has "already begun essential pre-construction activity, such as the movement of affected utility lines underneath Broadway. We are moving immediately into other such pre-construction work and look forward to beginning site preparation."

As described in the university's plan, the 17-acre project calls for a build-out of 6.8 million square feet above grade and two million square feet below grade over the course of 25 years. It will encompass new scientific research facilities, other academic facilities and university housing in 16 new buildings and one adaptively reused existing structure. There will also be a two-acre public park at the west end of the Manhattanville campus. The ESDC last year determined that the Manhattanville area is blighted and is thus subject to property acquisitions through eminent domain.

Along with creating a projected 14,000 construction jobs over the course of the build-out and 6,000 permanent jobs, "the expansion will provide nearly 100,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space, enhance the area's cultural activities and activate the neighborhood's street life with wide sidewalks and ground-floor retail uses," says Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement.