Weill Cornell opens 480K sf research hub on Upper East Side

Weill Cornell Medical College opened its new $650 million, 480,000-square-foot Belfer Research Building on the Upper East Side today.

Last month, Hunter College of the City University of New York paid $65 million for the fourth floor of the building, located at 413 East 69th Street between First and York avenues, as The Real Deal reported. The 18-story building will play host to research into health challenges such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, children’s health, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and global health and infectious diseases.

Campus architect William Cunningham designed the structure with glass walls and open staircases to enhance the level of collaboration among students and faculty, Crain’s reported.

“If you want to build a beautiful lab, you don’t have to do it next to a major hospital,” Colliers International’s Peter Kozel told Crain’s. “But to make this whole process work, scientists and doctors who are doing the research need to be very, very close to where the clinical work is being done. Whatever’s involved in their lab work, they want to see how it’s working on the patients.” [Crain’s] — Mark Maurer