Stanford pulls out of tech campus race

After emerging as a frontrunner to build a tech campus in New York City with $100 capital contribution from the city, Stanford has pulled out, in a surprising move, Crain’s and the Architect’s Newspaper reported.

“After several weeks of negotiations with New York City, university leaders and the Stanford Board of Trustees have determined that it would not be in the best interests of the university to continue to pursue the opportunity,” Stanford President John Hennessy said in a statement, according to Crain’s.

The city maintains that the blow to the high-stakes competition is no big deal.

“This competition is about changing the future of the city’s economy, and we are thrilled that we have a number of proposals that we believe will do exactly that. We are in serious negotiations with several of the other applicants, each of whom has a game-changing project queued up. We look forward to announcing a winner soon. We thank Stanford for participating in our process and wish them good luck,” the city told Crain’s.

The $200 million Roosevelt Island proposal by Stanford, in a partnership with the City University of New York, set to be designed by Ennead, was largely considered a front-runner until this afternoon, the Architect’s Newspaper said. [Crain’s] and [Architect’s Newspaper]