In a June 23, 2006 letter to the school’s Board of Trustees and Faculty, Dean Richard Matasar announced the completion of the sale of 240 Church Street describing it as a truly transformative event for the law school. The sale of the Mendik Law Library building is a critical step in “launching the school’s extensive expansion and renovation program that will 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,” the Dean wrote.

 

Ground breaking for the campus project will begin next month on the first phase of the project that involves the construction of a new academic building in the school's existing parking lot. This new building is expected to be ready by the fall of 2008.  The second phase of the ambitious project will consist of the complete interior renovation of the school’s remaining buildings on Worth Street that is projected to take at least 12 months to finish with an anticipated opening in spring 2010.

 

According to Dean Matasar, proceeds from the sale of 240 Church Street will nearly quadruple the school’s endowment putting it among the top 10 of all American law schools. Combined with a planned fund raising campaign due to kick-off in the fall of 2006, this should provide the school, according to the Dean, “with a resource base that in the years to come will give us the capacity to build and improve student support, expand the faculty, add greater depth to our extraordinary program, and permit us to respond to the needs of our profession.”

 

Financing for the new academic building comes from the sale of $135 million in insured bonds issued through the New York City Industrial Development Agency, which was successfully completed on June 30, 2006. The school’s securities were given an A3 credit rating by Moody’s and an A-minus rating by S&P, both reflective of the school’s stable market position and solid financial condition. 

 

The new building and renovation of existing facilities on Worth Street will bring together the law school’s classrooms, library, student spaces, administrative offices and professional academic centers in a combined 346,000 square foot, integrated environment that is nearly double the existing space occupied by the school today. 

 

The sale of the Mendik Law Library building also achieves the school’s goal of remaining in its Tribeca home where it has been a vital part of the community since 1891.  In a recent interview with The Bond Buyer newspaper where Dean Matasar recalled the school’s original mission of creating a place where working people and immigrants could access a legal education, he said: “the school remains committed to the core values of its founders. It’s part of our DNA. In lots of ways the school is part of the fabric of the city – we’ve got tremendous diversity and it’s a place where smart, energetic people come to get an education and the opportunity to use their talents. It’s a very ‘New York’ place.” 

 

Further details on the August ground breaking will be announced shortly.