The old Columbia fight song “Oh, Who Owns New York” has recently acquired new immediacy: “Oh, who owns New York?” Columbians sing. Over time, the University has brought these lyrics to life, buying up properties around New York City and building up a real estate portfolio over periods of market rise and fall.
Given its location in Manhattan, Columbia has long faced challenges in finding adequate space. The University’s setting has defined its identity, not only as an institution of higher education, but also in terms of its interaction with the surrounding neighborhood. With the campus relocation to Morningside Heights in 1896, Columbia established itself as a growing research university—and one facing prolonged tensions as it developed its presence in the area’s real estate market.
“Part of the skepticism came about because Columbia was a growing institution until mid 1900s,” said Joe Ienuso, the executive vice president of University Facilities. He explained that the University does not pursue real estate interest for its own sake, “We buy property to put it to use. Columbia does not own property for speculative purposes.”
EXPANSION PATTERNS
Over the course of its uptown history, Columbia has expanded its property scope by gradually acquiring buildings around its Morningside campus core. The University bought vacant buildings ready for use, reconstructed empty properties to build new facilities, and leased land for short-term projects. According to Ienuso, “at every point, when we purchase property, it is for the University’s usage, whether that it for housing, instructional, or research purposes. Each opportunity is different and each opportunity is examined for its benefits to the University community.”
Columbia’s city holdings span from its southern-most residential building at 103rd Street and Broadway, to The Arbor condominium in Riverdale, the Bronx—which was acquired in July. Other land beyond the gates includes the Medical Center surrounding 168th Street, Baker Field at 218th Street and Broadway, the Lamont-Doherty Laboratories in the Palisades, the Nevis Laboratories in Irvington, and the forthcoming 17-acre Manhattanville campus.
Columbia has acquired space in Manhattanville and elsewhere from dozens of property owners, with many of whom it has negotiated business relocations in order to consolidate its holdings. Columbia’s administration says it strives for transparency in the process. “The idea in Manhattanville and in general is to put a constraint on how the university grows and be clear about it,” Ienuso said.
Yet tension with local activists, who are skeptical of the University’s real estate tactics, seems to have perpetuated a neighborhood perception of Columbia as a property predator set on expansion at the expense of other community members.
HOUSING CONCERNS
As a result of this conflict, any attempt to alleviate the University’s housing woes becomes problematic. Asked to reveal a more detailed list of properties Columbia owns, Ienuso said that “giving an official number and saying we need more would create concern.”
But housing is also a focal point of concern among many students and administrators who live in Columbia buildings—or, are missing out on the opportunity.
A memo on housing policy sent by Provost Alan Brinkley’s office in September reads, “Columbia remains committed to providing its faculty and students with access to affordable housing, but the current housing climate in New York City has made it very difficult to accommodate all of the requests that we receive.”
Unlike many other universities, Columbia guarantees four years worth of housing for three of its undergraduate schools. But it cannot do so for students in the school of General Studies, graduate students, faculty, and staff because, as the administration consistently states, “demand exceeds supply.”
University housing properties are generally situated in concentric circles around the Morningside campus, with all undergraduate residential dorms except Schapiro adjacent to the center.
According to Brinkley’s memo, “the University currently owns nearly 7,000 units, [in addition to undergraduate dorms] of which about 30 percent are reserved for faculty and other officers; the rest are allocated to graduate students.”
Much of the University’s housing strategy is linked to faculty retention. In the memo, Brinkley called for the extension of the pilot housing-assistance program, which aims to help professors purchase homes of their own, through June 2010. As part of the program, over 30 incoming and continuing faculty have signed contracts to buy apartments.
In addition, Brinkley’s memo noted the purchase of The Arbor in Riverdale, and explained that “Columbia University Facilities will continue to consider opportunistic purchases of additional buildings and units, many of which will also be located in places other than Morningside Heights.”
Though the administration has been hesitant to provide a comprehensive list of the properties it currently allocates to housing, Ienuso said that, “the general consensus is that Columbia needs more housing.”
THE ARBOR’S ROLE
Columbia acquired the property at 3260 Henry Hudson Parkway after the seller, L&M Equity Partners, decided to accept the University’s big bid rather than sell off the apartments individually. The Arbor presented “a good opportunity,” Ienuso said. The transaction appears to be largely in line with the residential strategy outlined by Provost Brinkley. The University paid $67.6 million for the 127-unit Arbor building on July 3.
Located in the upscale residential Riverside neighborhood of the Bronx, The Arbor—along with several other condominiums and houses—stands on elevated terrain overlooking the Hudson. The building benefits from shuttle service that runs from to the 231st Street subway stop on the 1-line, and also carries passengers to the Medical Center campus.
Juan Luna-Galan, The Arbor’s doorman, was relocated to his current post over the summer from a building on 116th Street. “Sometimes it’s hard to know everyone’s name... But I think I know everyone,” he said.
The quiet neighborhood that provides distance from bustling Manhattan appeals to some, but student opinions are mixed. Lily Shroyer, a 2010 Masters candidate in the School of Social Work thinks that The Arbor is far, but that “it’s a really nice building. The long commute is worth it. It’s a really good neighborhood.” Shroyer is not always on the Columbia campus, since she is assigned to fieldwork three days a week.
“The building itself is very nice,” Emily Wong, MBA 2010, said. “But a better shuttle schedule would do a great deal to make the place more attractive. There was an application process, I got waitlisted and I lived in New York, so I guess that’s why they assigned me to this place,” she added. According to Wong, the commute from The Arbor to campus takes around 45 to 50 minutes, and buses do not run that often at night. “Everyone I talked to wants to move out of here because it’s too far,” she said.
Despite the distance, locations like The Arbor might be the only feasible solution for faculty and staff—as long as they can fit the commute into their schedules. In addition, the building is located relatively closer to the Medical Center than other Columbia housing, which Ienuso said was part of the rationale for its purchase.
GS CASE STUDY
General Studies students have struggled more than most in the hunt for suitable housing at Columbia. Like graduate students, GS students applying through University Apartment Housing must fill in an application describing the type of unit they are looking for. When a property is vacated and becomes available for students, the first person interested in that particular type of apartment gets the opportunity to occupy it. Data comprised by the GSSC indicates that out of 1,136 GS students enrolled in the fall term at Columbia, only 327 were placed in UAH housing.
According to the GS Student Body President Brody Berg, GS ’09, “people are now relying on the waitlist as more of an emergency fallback rather than a first option.” Berg has worked closely with the office of the GS Dean of Students and with GSSC Vice President of Policy Michael Rain, in order to “understand what GS students are experiencing with their apartments and to figure out common areas we can identify for improvement.” They homed in on three sample buildings—a one-bedroom at 906 W. 122nd St., the Nussbaum building at Broadway and 113th Street, and a K&R Leased Building at 963 Columbus.
“We need consolidation and we need proximity,” said Berg, who added that his constituents are mainly worried about the bed count.
Berg described the communities in the residential buildings as “a curious mix.” The University-owned Nussbaum building in particular houses undergraduate, General Studies, and graduate students, as well as independent tenants unaffiliated with Columbia.
According to an e-mail from Columbia University Facilities, “many of the properties we acquired had tenants occupying those buildings at the time of acquisition. Columbia adheres to the terms of the agreement between the occupant and the prior owner.”
Although the experience of New York’s diversity may be appealing, GS students’ main complaints about the housing offered to them concern facilities and service. According to Berg, who, along with Rain, recently collected over 150 photos of flaws in GS housing units, “UAH students have generally been displeased with the level of maintenance.”
As for the newly-purchased building in Riverdale, GS students “are enthusiastic about the high quality but are worried about the location.” Yet Berg is aware of the need to compromise. “I will take consolidation,” he said, “so if we can get steps along the way, it would be plausible to take hit on proximity.”
THE ARBOR AND THE NEW YORK MARKET
The purchase of The Arbor signals Columbia’s ever-growing need for residential space and a necessity to expand property beyond the Morningside campus area.
Although intended as one solution to the University’s housing shortage, the deal has also caused some unrest in the local Riverdale community. At the time of the acquisition, the real estate press saw the deal as a sign of failing local residential development that is largely in line with the slowing New York housing market.
In a story that appeared in the real estate magazine The Real Deal following the agreement between Columbia and L&M Equity Partners, members of the community were quoted expressing their unease about settling for a building with a high turnover rate rather than one which would attract new families to the neighborhood. The magazine called the agreement a “blow” to the developer.
Asked to comment on the Riverdale transaction, Vincent Carrega, the executive managing director at the real estate investment company Grubb & Ellis Company, which represented L&M Equity Partners, said that “the demand for condominiums in general has fallen over the course of the last year. The housing market saw lots of foreclosures and layoffs. Things have slowed down in general, and this is a symptom.”
Carrega did not wish to comment on the quantitative aspect of the transaction, but said that “Columbia had demand for the space and took on the opportunity that presented itself.”
Despite this acquisition—which sets a new precedent for Columbia in terms of the type of property that could be used to address the housing shortage—the state of the real estate market is part of what University President Lee Bollinger described as “difficult times” in a recent e-mail update on the economic crisis’s possible effects on the University. In the same e-mail, Bollinger added that “these economic realities call on us to look more closely at every aspect of our operations, to focus on improving efficiencies wherever we can, and to make some difficult choices about how we allocate our resources.”
Asked whether Columbia could benefit from the less vibrant real estate market by looking into further purchases like the one in Riverdale, Ienuso said, “we look at real estate all the time and evaluate opportunities as they come and will continue to do this in the current market.”
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