Cornell NYC Plans for Roosevelt Island Residential Buildings

NEW YORK — The Hudson Companies and The Related Companies (both based in New York) formed a joint venture to construct the first residential building on Cornell NYC Tech’s Roosevelt Island campus. Construction of the campus is slated to begin in early 2014, with construction of the residential building scheduled for 2015. The design of the residential building will implement sustainable building elements when creating the community campus — set to debut in 2017.
“With Hudson and Related, Cornell Tech has added a development partner with enormous experience on Roosevelt Island to deliver one of the campus’ most important buildings,” said Cathy Dove, vice president of Cornell Tech, in a statement. “This is another example of a leading private sector partner excited to join Cornell in the early stages of the campus development, making Cornell Tech’s ambitious plans achievable on an aggressive timeline.”
The new residential building will incorporate 350 housing units for students, staff and faculty. The units will be a mixture of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom suites. It will feature a gym, bike room, lounge and roof deck, as well as multi-purpose, collaboration and media rooms for residents.
The design of the new building will rely on passive sustainable design features to achieve reductions in energy use and carbon emissions. These green building approaches align with Cornell Tech’s mission.
“The residential building is a critical piece of Cornell Tech’s ability to attract the best talent by creating a 24/7 community of graduate students and faculty, with outstanding on-campus residential facilities that complement the leading-edge academic environment,” said Cornell Tech Dean Dan Huttenlocher in a statement. “Cornell Tech is centered around innovation, and this building will break new ground with its approach to sustainability and building systems design.”
Cornell NYC Tech now includes a master’s program in computer science, a Ph.D. program in computer science, electrical engineering and information science. In addition to the school’s collaborations with dozens of industry-leading organizations, Cornell Tech also works with numerous organizations to bring tech education to New York’s public school students.
New York-based Handel Architects is serving as the architect on the project, while New York-based Buro Happold will assist with the low-energy strategy for the building, which includes an advanced mechanical system design.
For about 16 years, Hudson and Related have worked together to develop housing and retail projects on Roosevelt Island such as the Riverwalk, which consists of six completed residential buildings.