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May 26, 2011
At MetroTech, NYU-Poly takes some unused office space of Forest City Ratner's hands; move pitched as "owning the square"
Atlantic Yards Report
When I first wrote about New York University's astonishing absorption of the Brooklyn-based engineering school Polytechnic University, I thought it merely an intriguing (and severely under-examined) real estate story involving a principal of the MetroTech complex developed by Forest City Ratner and Polytechnic.
Now there's a more explicit connection. As the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, in an article headlined NYU-Poly Expands at MetroTech Center: Will Allow School to ‘Own the Square’ and Enhance 24/7 Downtown Community.
...Poly already occupies buildings around the commons--buildings with ground-level space flanking the open area--so I don't see how adding upper floors in office buildings makes the campus more dynamic.
Rather, it solves a problem for Forest City Ratner: getting office tenants into its properties. Remember, In the past year, as Crain's NY Business reported, NYSE Euronext moved out of roughly 387,000 square feet at 2 MetroTech Center.
We don't know if Poly is paying the rates expected from office tenants, but it's unlikely.
Posted by eric at May 26, 2011 10:53 AM