Why Manhattanville?
Columbia has grown incrementally through ad hoc development for decades. To grow strategically, the University had been looking for additional space for many years. Of all the sites considered for expansion, the old Manhattanville manufacturing area in West Harlem made the most sense: • a primarily nonresidential area characterized by warehouses, parking lots, auto repair shops, and gas stations • a contiguous space offering a minimum of five million net square feet, plus space for support services • proximity to public transportation • proximity to Columbia’s Morningside Heights and Washington Heights campuses • an area that would provide an opportunity for the University to expand its already extensive community service programs to anchor the University as a committed neighborhood partner Columbia also investigated a nine-acre parcel in Riverside South, between West 59th and West 62nd Streets. But for a variety of reasons, including limited size and significant distance from existing
