Weill Cornell Medicine has announced plans to expand its Upper East Side campus with the acquisition of five floors at 1334 York Avenue. The new space, which is currently occupied by Sotheby’s auction house, is located one block from Weill Cornell’s primary campus and will add some 200,000 square feet of research space, the institution’s largest expansion since the inauguration of the Belfer Research Building in 2014.
Render of the new interior of 1334 York Avenue, courtesy of Edelman
Scheduled to open in 2026, the new medical center will serve as a focal point for foundational, clinical, and translational research. Leveraging advanced data science and cutting-edge methodologies, it will aim to advance our comprehension of various diseases.
The facility will also accommodate the expansion of key programs, including the Englander Institute for Precision Medicine and the Meyer Cancer Center. Furthermore, the establishment of a new Department of Systems and Computational Biomedicine will facilitate the development of innovative algorithms and the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance research efforts. This will ideally accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries into therapies for patients.
Render of the new interior of 1334 York Avenue, courtesy of Edelman
The research space will prioritize collaboration, offering open workspaces and large conference rooms, encompassing both dry and wet lab spaces to facilitate flexible research team configurations. Over time, the facility will house more than 700 Weill Cornell Medicine faculty and staff, supporting existing programs and enabling future research endeavors. The facility is also being engineered to achieve LEED certification.
Render of the new interior of 1334 York Avenue, courtesy of Edelman
The initial phase of the expansion is slated to commence in early 2024, with the full opening expected in the fall of 2026.
“Our institution’s critical research expansion will accelerate innovation in medicine so we can bring more cutting-edge treatments and therapies to patients,” said Jessica M. Bibliowicz, chair of the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Fellows. “This new space will empower our scientists and physicians to discover and develop solutions to some of our greatest health challenges and ensure a brighter future for generations around the world.”
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Labs will require lots of new electrical wiring, a vacuum system, fume hood exhausts, and possibly an acid-neutralizing drainage system with glass pipes. This will be major construction.
That is why it is taking three years.