Tishman Construction is serving as construction manager on the project, having previously gut-renovated a former Rolls-Royce dealership on East 61t Street into an office and research facility for the college. The 18-story Medical Research Building eight blocks to the north is ground-up construction and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011.

The 480,000-square-foot building will include 16 floors of programmed space dedicated to areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, children's health, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and global health and infectious diseases. Design firm Polshek Partnership Architects is emphasizing open floor plans and energy efficiency, according to a release.

"This building will be an enormous boon to our research scientists, who are pursuing translational research across the spectrum of medicine," says Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., dean of Weill Cornell, in a release. "It will make us highly competitive in terms of available workspace for scientists, allowing the college to recruit more than 30 additional top-tier researchers." The Discoveries That Make a Difference capital campaign earmarks $200 million for the recruitment of new faculty.