 "Photo: Illustration by Michelle Cruz | The Ticker")
Next year, the CUNY Law School will move from its current location on Main Street in Flushing, Queens, to 2 Court Square in Long Island City.
According to CUNY Law news archive, this area will benefit students because it is more accessible by public transportation.
The new location is within walking distance of seven subway lines and seven bus lines.
In addition, the school intends to establish a part-time program in order to attract a more diverse range of students.
The New York Daily News reported that the law school would occupy the first six floors of the 14-story building. This move will provide CUNY Law with additional space to accommodate its students.
Crain's New York Business reported that a letter written by Iris Weinshall, CUNY's vice chancellor for facilities, planning, construction and management, stated "The University explored spending in excess of $255 million to build a new building from the ground up, a cost estimate that was confirmed by both an independent architect and prospective developers."
Weinshall also stated that the Court Square location was a better deal for both the law school and the university.
"In 2001, the school and [the University] commenced a planning process for a new facility and retained the prominent architectural firm of Beyer Blinder Belle," Michael Arena, university director for communications and marketing.
"In 2003, the University projected a cost of $225 million for the Beyer Blinder proposal, which included all of the anticipated costs. With inflation, we are estimating that the cost to [The University] of acquiring the land and of building a new law school to be at least $255 million," said Arena.
Crain's New York Business also reported that the relocation faces criticism from administration, faculty and students because of its hefty $155 million price tag. The 260,000 square foot building on Court Square will cost about $596 per square foot.
"They keep saying it would cost more to build a new building, but they haven't produced documents or market data to prove it," stated CUNY Law Professor Dinesh Khosla in Crain's New York Business.
In 2008, CUNY issued a public request for proposals in an effort to explore more affordable options, and, after additional negotiations, 2 Court Square was chosen.
"The site selection is part of an innovative private/public partnership that will save The University at least $100 million," said Arena. "This is a very conservative savings estimate because the Court Square facility is a LEED Gold certified structure, which would have added an increase cost to the original Beyer Blinder proposal."
According to the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.
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