Eminent Domain in Manhattanville

Columbia's Expansion Plan

In 2001, Columbia approached the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) about redeveloping the area west of Broadway from 125th Street to 133rd Street. Most of the buildings in the area were commercial, and Columbia began purchasing land within the area to facilitate the plan. In response to Columbia's initiative, the EDC prepared a mater plan for the area outlining strategies for economic development of the area. The study emphasized that a change in the use of the area would foster job growth and create improved street life. By 2003, the EDC hired a consulting firm to examine neighborhood conditions. The following year, the study concluded that conditions in the area were blighted, emphasizing that several buildings were dilapidated. Columbia then hired its own consulting firm (AKRF) to assist it obtaining approvals for the project. Subsequently the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) hired AKRF to conduct a study of neighboring conditions, in part because AKRF was already familiar with the area. AKRF's study concluded that the site was “substantially unsafe, unsanitary, substandard, and deteriorated.” Meanwhile, the City Planning Commission, noting Columbia's importance to the area as a center of educational excellence and economic growth, approved rezoning of the area to permit construction of a new urban campus. The City Council approved the rezoning. After affected landowners challenged ESDC's choice of AKRF to conduct the blight study, ESDC hired yet another consulting firm, Earth Tech, to conduct a study. Earth Tech's conclusions mirrored those of the previous AKRF study.