Columbia buys $20M lot

Columbia University has purchased a one-story Manhattanville commercial building at 3581 Broadway for $20 million. Columbia plans to build a 42-unit rent-to-own residential project there for residents who will be displaced by its 17-acre expansion into Harlem, the Observer reported. Cornerstone Group represented Columbia University in the sale of the 25,000 square foot lot, while Vickers Realty represented the seller, Blockentire Associates. Vickers Realty also represented the seller of a neighboring commercial building at 555 West 125th Street, which Columbia recently bought for $6.25 million. TRD