NYU Announces Major Expansion in Downtown Brooklyn

The transformation of Downtown Brooklyn from a traditional manufacturing-based urban backwater to a bustling collection of residential towers, college satellite campuses and national retailers, continues apace.

On Monday, elected officials and economic development leaders joined NYU administrators to announce the educational institution's major expansion into owned by the Metropolitan Transit Authority at 370 Jay St.

"New York itself has always been part of the educational experience at NYU," said NYU president John Sexton of the planned Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP), which will be housed at the building. "With CUSP, New York will also be a living laboratory, a source of research, a test-bed for new ideas and the economic beneficiary of our researchers' discoveries."

, the deal to rehabilitate what many called an "eyesore" in the heart of Downtown was a tough and complicated one, according to several officials with knowledge of the negotiations between MTA, city and NYU representatives.

"I mean with the number of people up here and the amount of time this thing took, we could have built the new building," said state Sen. Daniel Squadron, D-Cobble Hill, a key backer of the project. "But of course this is not just about a single building. This is a game changer for Downtown Brooklyn... and for New York."

The deal is worth $60 million—$50 million of which will be paid by NYU to help MTA relocate equipment from the site. The remainder will be spent by the university to help the transit division of the New York Police Department vacate the building.

Currently, the MTA pays the city $1 a year to lease the property.

According to the Mayor's office, the city has allocated $15 million in benefits to NYU, $3.75 million of which will be made immediately available to facilitate Phase I of construction—scheduled to begin in Fall 2014, with renovations complete by the summer of 2017.

"Our administration has long seen the promise of Downtown Brooklyn and we've made the investments needed to transform it into a thriving center for business," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Monday's announcement at NYU-Poly at 6 MetroTech Plaza.

News of NYU's deal for 370 Jay St. came alongside the results of a recent survey commissioned by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, Brooklyn Navy Yard and DUMBO Business Improvement District projected revenue growth in the from a current $3.13 billion a year to $5.85 billion by 2015.

For city planners and business leaders, the coming arrival of an international educational outpost like CUSP was a key piece to the high-tech economic development puzzle.

"We thought  that it would have everything that it would ever need," Bloomberg said. "Actually, this might not make as much news, but it is an awful lot more important."