St. Francis College Secures Space for New Campus

NEW YORK CITY – St. Francis College has signed a 255,000-square-foot lease at Tishman Speyer’s The Wheeler Building in downtown Brooklyn, NY. The college will fully customize the space for its new campus.

St. Francis College will occupy the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the recently-completed 10-story building, which is located at 181 Livingston St. and situated above the landmark Macy’s department store.

For its new campus, St. Francis College will customize the space with a dedicated marked entrance on Livingston St. and a lobby that welcomes students and faculty. The leased space will include flexible labs and classrooms with built-in technology, a 300-seat auditorium, a 260-seat cafeteria, a 32-seat tiered screening room, a 6,600-square-foot library with study and research spaces, a private outdoor terrace and roof deck access. The college will also utilize more than 2,600 square feet of programmable outdoor space.

St. Francis College expects to open the new space in September 2022.

In 2015, Macy’s consolidated its operations at the historic Brooklyn department store and partnered with Tishman Speyer to reimagine and fully renovate the space, including the interconnected structure built by developer, Andrew Wheeler in the 1870s.

Tishman Speyer led the preservation and restoration of the original Macy’s building, as well as The Wheeler Building. The developer collaborated with design architect, Joey Shimoda of Shimoda Design Group on the project.

The Wheeler Building now has 360,000 square feet of newly-built space that is available for lease.

“For more than 160 years, St. Francis College has demonstrated a commitment to providing an unmatched private education in the heart of New York City,” states Miguel Martinez-Saenz, president of St. Francis College. “This is a historic moment to completely re-envision our campus and meet the needs of our community, and we are thrilled to continue offering a first-rate, affordable education in a modern, flexible and welcoming learning space.”

“St. Francis is a long-time pillar of the Brooklyn community,” states Rob Speyer, CEO of Tishman Speyer. “We are thrilled to be their partner in this new chapter. With its seamless blend of old and new construction, The Wheeler speaks to both St. Francis’ history in the neighborhood, as well as its commitment to modern education.”

Cushman & Wakefield’s team of Patrick Dugan, Frank Liantonio and Jon Herman represented the tenant in arranging the lease.

“We are delighted to have represented an institution so deeply rooted in Brooklyn like St. Francis College,” states Dugan. “This is such a significant moment in SFC’s history and the transaction is also great for the Brooklyn real estate market as a whole. After an extensive process, our team was able to find a solution to meet the college’s financial, operational and qualitative needs, while achieving the appropriate balance between location, economics and timing. SFC’s new campus at The Wheeler will position them for continued success for generations to come.”