The New York Building Congress welcomes this opportunity to endorse the General Project Plan for the proposed Columbia University Educational Mixed-Use Development Land Use Improvement and Civic Project (“Columbia Project” or “Project”).
As the City’s largest and most diverse coalition of the design, construction and real estate industry, the Building Congress is committed to promoting well-planned development that revitalizes neighborhoods and improves the City’s economic health and quality of life. The Columbia Project epitomizes that kind of development, which is why the Building Congress supported Columbia University’s underlying proposal to rezone the Manhattanville area of West Harlem during the review process required by the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
As we explained in our letters urging the New York City Planning Commission and City Council to give Columbia’s rezoning proposal favorable consideration, New York City has long been a global capital, drawing the brightest, most skilled people from all over the world who want to live and work here. With the increasing popularity of other cities, like London and Shanghai, however, the City faces growing competition for attracting the talent upon which our economy largely depends. To maintain its competitive edge, New York needs to ensure that it offers the best infrastructure, services, cultural facilities, and education and institutional resources. The Columbia Project significantly furthers steps toward this goal.
For over 250 years, Columbia University has been an extraordinary asset to New York, contributing substantially to the City’s intellectual, cultural and economic vitality. One of the most esteemed academic institutions in the world, Columbia attracts the highest-caliber faculty members and students, conducts groundbreaking research in science, medicine and the arts, and provides New Yorkers with important community health care, education and youth service programs. With its more than 14,000 employees, Columbia also accounts for over 10 percent of State-wide employment in higher education and is the seventh largest non-governmental employer in New York City. When translated into dollars, the university spends about $2.4 billion annually, including $1.25 billion in payroll, and about 70 percent of those funds are spent in the greater New York metropolitan area.
Columbia has reached a critical point, however, and must grow to meet its existing and projected needs, including accommodating emerging academic disciplines and research fields, so that it can maintain its position as a leading university. While competitors like Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Princeton and Brown Universities have developed and are actively engaged in long-range campus planning and expansions, Columbia has been constrained by the age and size of its existing facilities and ad hoc development that falls woefully short of projected space requirements.
This Project would allow Columbia to undertake a more comprehensive development strategy for expanding and modernizing its facilities and curricula, enabling it to sustain its long tradition of academic excellence. The City Council’s approval of Columbia’s proposed rezoning plan last December has paved the way toward transforming an underutilized light-industrial area of West Harlem into a vibrant, mixed-use community that includes approximately 6.8 million square feet of space for academic, office and residential buildings, while creating open space, retail, cultural and community facilities.
That transformation is expected to stimulate an enormous amount of economic activity, including 6,000 permanent local jobs, representing a diverse population of new hires. Over the next 25 years, full construction of the Project would also generate an average of 1,200 construction-related jobs a year, $11 billion in local economic activity and approximately $430 million in tax revenues for the City and State. ESDC approval of the Project is the next major milestone that will move Columbia’s vision - and the promise of these economic benefits - closer to reality.
The Building Congress has been impressed by the collaborative efforts of Columbia, the City and the community to resolve concerns about the Project and is optimistic that this collaborative spirit will continue as any remaining issues are addressed. Our optimism is well-founded. Columbia has already shown good faith by addressing concerns raised by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and committing, among other things, to support the establishment of a West Harlem Special District, contribute $20 million to an Affordable Housing Fund, achieve a minimum of LEED Silver Certification design for academic and residential projects in the project area, develop new public parkland, fund $500,000 for playground and schoolyard enhancements and $11,250,000 over 25 years for the renovation of the West Harlem Waterfront park and implement a construction mitigation plan. Columbia has also agreed to accommodate potentially displaced residents of 130 apartments in the same or better quality housing in the neighborhood that will increase the overall affordable housing stock in the community.
Indeed, all New Yorkers stand to gain by keeping premier academic institutions, like Columbia, in New York City and helping them to flourish in an increasingly competitive world. The Columbia Project is a comprehensive plan to meet that goal in a way that integrates and benefits the community. The Building Congress strongly supports this Project and urges prompt approval by the Empire State Development Corporation.
