Columbia commits to expansion agreement

Real Estate Weekly, Oct 3, 2007

Manhattan borough president Scott M. Stringer and Columbia University president Lee Bollinger announced that they have reached an agreement on a series of steps to benefit the West Harlem community as it relates to Columbia's planned expansion of their Manhattanville campus. The agreement contains a series of commitments from Columbia that will directly address community needs including affordable housing, open space, sustainable development, community resources, and greater accommodation of the local Community Board's 197-a plan for the area.

Stringer and Bollinger made the announcement on the day Stringer issued his official recommendation in support of the required zoning changes needed for the expansion to move forward.

The historic agreement includes commitments from Columbia University to create a $20 million affordable housing fund to be leveraged by affordable housing developers towards a much larger sum.

Abide by best practices for environmentally sustainable construction and design, ensuring that all academic and residential projects in the area will meet a minimum of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) v 2.2 "Silver" Certification.

Seek to create new public parkland at 125th Street and Twelfth Avenue on a property previously slated for development under the plan. On this site, CU would develop a 6,300 s/f park, and provide funding for site maintenance at a cost of $30,000 per year for 25 years.

Fund significant neighborhood open space improvements including $500,000 for playground and schoolyard enhancement at I-195; a commitment to work with NYCHA and tenants to fund walkway and grounds improvements at Manhattanville Houses and General Grant Houses; and $11,250,000 over 25 years towards the upkeep and maintenance of the new West Harlem Waterfront Park.

Create a Community Information, Opportunities and Resources Center to provide one stop access for community members seeking information about employment opportunities; construction schedules, site safety and mitigation, community-oriented service programs, housing opportunities created by the affordable housing fund, and other community resources. Columbia will create a 24-hour hotline providing information relating to construction activity and employment opportunities. And implement a comprehensive construction mitigation plan using practices designed to reduce environmental and health impacts of construction. Better accommodate the community's plan for the area by establishing a community access policy for new amenities in the proposed campus, and prorooting a retail strategy that prioritizes local, small, non-chain, neighborhood-based businesses.

The proposal now moves to the Department of City Planning for a 60-day review period and then to the New York City Council for a 50-day review period before it can ultimately be voted on and become law.