Foundation Work Begins for NYU’s Massive Greenwich Village Expansion at 181 Mercer Street

NYU Expansion at 181 Mercer, rendering via StudioAMDNYU Expansion at 181 Mercer, rendering via StudioAMD

Excavation continues at 181 Mercer Street, the site of New York University’s 1.9 million square-foot expansion in Greenwich Village. The university’s scope of development for the enlarged campus includes razing The Jerome S. Coles Sports Center at 20-40 East Houston Street, and constructing a new 23-story sports center and performing arts facility in its place, which will have an address of 181 Mercer Street.

Initial filings indicate a 588,000-square-foot structure divided into two adjacent buildings with a landscaped public plaza. Designed by Davis Brody Bond along with KieranTimberlake, the building will contain an indoor pool, a runners’ track, and multiple fitness rooms.

Performing arts facilities will include a theater and orchestral pit with balcony and mezzanine seating designed to accommodate 556 people. Both buildings will include some office space and light dining areas.

Street view of NYU’s Greenwich Village Expansion at 20 East Houston Street today, image by JC_Heights

A comparison of the above progress photo with the below, from about two months ago, shows that excavation appears to be nearing the finish line, and foundation work has now begun. NYU projects the building will be constructed by 2021, and that its long-term expansion plan will be completed by 2031.

Street view of NYU’s Greenwich Village Expansion at 20 East Houston Street as of March 9th, image by JC_Heights

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18 Comments on "Foundation Work Begins for NYU’s Massive Greenwich Village Expansion at 181 Mercer Street"

  1. Please pardon me for using your space: No cruel words for progress on its best design. (Thank you)

  2. Dotson Rader | May 28, 2018 at 1:44 pm | Reply

    Typical NYU architecture – vulgar, arrogant, and laughably inappropriate. NYU has again shown its contempt for the city. NYU is the greatest vandal in the history of New York City, even worse than Robert Moses and the barbarians who destroyed Penn Station. It is past time for NYU – this smug, puffed up, second rate commuter school – to leave our city for the suburbs.

    • David in Bushwick | May 28, 2018 at 6:03 pm | Reply

      I feel just the same way about injustice.

    • Chris Becket | May 29, 2018 at 6:52 am | Reply

      What hyperbole! Rejected your application, didn’t they?

      • Chris, no Dotson Rader is just a typical Greenwich Village resident that believes in their heart of hearts and with their soul of souls that every last pebble in the Village is sacred and was given to the enlightened citizens of the Village by an omniscient deity on the condition that it can never, ever be changed until the end of time. Under this belief system, NYU works hand-in-hand with Lucifer to despoil the Village and only the good, righteous and vigilant residents of the Village can redeem the Earth.

        • To be fair, I think any resident in a dominantly residential neighborhood will be irritated by a 1.9 million square foot building hosting a bunch of boisterous college kids. But then again, it’s Manhattan…

          • Chris Becket | May 31, 2018 at 7:44 am |

            I guess in every life, a little rain must fall.

          • Get over it. Are you complaining about Columbia and it’s 200+ buildings in Harlem and they keep going. All schools build and expand. Duke has 8,000 acres. Are the Durham or Harlem residents complaining???

      • Lol. I was thinking the exact same thing.

  3. Keep growing baby. Next, how about a supertall skyscraper!

  4. I understand people’s want to keep things the way they were…But the only constant is change in this world. Especially when we are talking about neighborhoods or skylines in NYC.

  5. Villagers’ determination has made their community one of the most attractive and expensive real estate in the world. Keep up the good work, guys.

    On the other hand I wonder in what kind of crappers their keyboard critics on this blog dwell.

  6. eddie spaghetti | June 3, 2018 at 7:56 pm | Reply

    you have got to be kidding me? for once nyu redevelops their own campus property and some people still complain? ridiculous. i understand when they gooble up the neighborhood with ugly collegiate dorms, but this is the heart of their own campus. give them a break and thumbs up here.

  7. Dotson Rader – you are obviously jealous of the school that is ranked #30 in national rankings by US News and all its graduate programs are in the top 20 or top 10 nationally and globally. NYU Law #6. JKF Jr went there and you call it a second rate school, ha. It has one of the largest dorm systems in the nation and the most global campuses.

    Perhaps you should stick with Columbia which is in Harlem, the Siberia of Manhattan and looks just like The Bronx Community College (which NYU built and didn’t want despite it looking just like the Columbia campus. Same architect. NYU brings people, money, culture to Greenwich. Don’t be jealous that you did not go there and you live in a shoebox on Bleecker St. NYU owns the Village and probably your apt. which is why you’re so angry. Jealous and naive. Move to the tip of Manhattan which is basically The Bronx – where Columbia is and go there and protest them. They own more properties than NYU. Duh!

  8. Medical School and Medical Center are top 10. Stern #12. Education top 15. 15 global campuses. # 3 on the top dream colleges.

  9. You put NYU down all you want but here are the facts:
    1. NYU owns Greenwich, parts of SoHo and Chelsea.
    2. NYU is the wealthiest private landowner in USD in Manhattan, yes even much more than Columbia given it is in Harlem. Read for yourself.
    http://www.residentmar.io/2016/05/27/biggest-landowners-nyc.html

    3. I went to Stuyvesant and got rejected by NYU. It’s acceptance rate is now 19%.
    4. NYU has the 6th largest dorm system in the nation – hardly a commuter school.
    5. NYU employees 100′ if not 1000s in Greenwich. Growth means more jobs.

    Conclusion – those are facts. Anyone putting NYU down is jealous because it is a powerhouse of an institution and is the most well connected institution in the nation. Tisch, Langone, just look at the Board and you’ll see how powerful and influential it is.

    It is a solid school and force, and resides in the an area with some of the world’s most expensive real estate.

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