Rockefeller University is one step closer to approval for its plan to construct two new buildings above Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive on the east side of Manhattan.
The City Council’s Committee on Land Use gave the green light for the school’s plan to raise a two-story research building and one-story conference center over the stretch of parkway from East 64th to East 68th streets. The structure would be built on a deck over the thoroughfare and span 927 feet.
Prior to Thursday’s committee approval, Rockefeller University agreed to invest $8 million to develop and maintain a portion of the East River Esplanade, which runs adjacent to the campus, in order to sweeten the deal. The school has control over the airspace along that particular stretch of FDR Drive, but has been held to an agreement that it would develop the area’s waterfront in exchange for the rights.
According to Crain’s, full council approval is expected to follow. [Crain’s] — Kerry Barger