On August 1, 2006, New York Law School, one of the oldest independent law schools in the United States, launched a $190 million expansion and renovation program that will transform the School's campus in lower Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood into a cohesive architectural complex nearly double its current size.

The centerpiece of the expansion will be a new glass-enclosed, 200,000-square-foot, nine-level building, five stories above ground and four below. The new building will be constructed on what was the Law School's parking lot, and will be contiguous to and integrated with the School's existing three buildings.

When completed, the new complex will bring together the school's classrooms, library, student spaces, administrative offices, and professional academic centers in a combined 346,000-square-foot environment compared with the 205,000 square feet of space the school occupies today. Construction of the new building is the first phase of the project. In the second phase, the school's existing buildings will be extensively renovated.

The new academic building is slated to open in the fall semester of 2008. The second phase will be completed in spring 2010. The two phases have been meticulously planned around so that there is no disruption in the academic program and to minimize inconvenience to students.

In his announcement, Dean and President Richard A. Matasar called the campus expansion program "a truly transformative event for the law school, both in terms of our physical facilities but also for our entire educational enterprise." He added, "In launching the school's extensive expansion and renovation program, we will be able to provide a comfortable, attractive, warm home for every member of the law school community in a state of the art facility that will serve the school for decades. It will showcase every aspect of our program in a law building finer than any in the city."