CU Applies For $500M Loan - University Would Use Money From State for Several Construction Projects

Columbia Spectator

News: Manhattanville Expansion

CU Applies For $500M Loan
University Would Use Money From State for Several Construction Projects
By Erin DurkinSpectator Staff Writer
November 14, 2005

Columbia has requested a $500 million loan from the state of New York to fund dozens of construction projects, according to a notice published Friday.
The University intends to use the money for projects ranging from the renovation of the Studebaker building in Manhattanville to the completion of new faculty and graduate student housing at 103rd Street and Broadway.

While the requested funds will be split among 31 different sites, the biggest single proposal is the renovation of the Studebaker building on 131st Street. The University has asked for $52,457,000 to fund improvements to the facility, which will be completely revamped during the first stage of Columbia�s proposed Manhattanville expansion project.

Also included in the request was more than $20 million for renovations at Butler Library and smaller sums for improvements to almost every student dorm.

The University requested the funds from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, an agency that regularly provides low-interest loans to finance construction by private educational and health care institutions.

This is not the first time the University has applied for a loan.

�Columbia applies for financing for eligible projects on a regular basis,� University spokeswoman Liz Golden wrote in an e-mail.

Notice of Columbia�s application was published in The New York Times on Friday. A public hearing on the matter will take place on Nov. 28. Dormitory Authority officials could not be reached for comment on the approval process over the weekend.

Golden said that improvements to Studebaker, which was originally built as an automobile factory, would include the replacement and modernization of heating, ventilation, cooling, plumbing, electrical, and fire systems. Windows will also be replaced.

Renovations to the Studebaker building can be carried out under current zoning regulations, so the University may begin work on it before it completes the process to rezone the area, which is necessary for most of the other construction it has planned.

Golden said University officials are not sure whether they would request more state funding for building in Manhattanville.

�All capital projects are funded with a combination of resources including working capital, reserves, gifts, and/or debt. It is too early to specify how projects that are part of the proposed ... plan might be funded,� she said.

An additional $26,045,000 will go towards construction at 2700 Broadway, the 13-story building on the corner of 103rd Street. The building�s 83 residential units were occupied by faculty and postdoctoral researchers this summer.
At a press conference Sunday, opponents of Columbia�s expansion objected to the idea that state money could help finance the Manhattanville project.

�Not only are they leveling the place and throwing everybody out of here ... but they�re also making us pay� to renovate Studebaker, said Tom DeMott, a member of the Coalition to Preserve Community.

Noting that Columbia is tax-exempt and does not contribute to state revenue, DeMott added, �If the University is bringing a plan which is at direct odds with everything the community has been advocating, you would expect there would be resistance to any kind of tax subsidy the University might get.�