New York Law School’s Expansion Turned on Library Sale

New York Law School, a fixture in lower Manhattan since 1891, is in the midst of a $190-million expansion that will add a new nine-level mixed-use building and renovate existing structures.

The key to the expansion, according to The New York Times, was the sale of the law school’s library building to a developer eager for property in the law school’s neighborhood, TriBeCa. The $136-million deal set off a complex series of moves designed to keep the 1,500-student law school running smoothly while construction proceeds on the new building, located on what had been a parking lot for the school.

To accommodate neighborhood height restrictions, four floors of the new, 210,000-square-foot building will be underground, where keeping out subway noise and water requires special construction techniques. The school’s building program, overseen by SmithGroup, includes a number of innovative elements.