Fordham Campus Backed by Court

By
• JOSH BARBANEL

Fordham University's plan to expand its Lincoln Center campus and build two luxury residential towers won a key court challenge as a state judge upheld changes that permit much larger and bulkier buildings on the site.

The current Lincoln Center campus, originally built for 3,500 students, now serves close to 8,000 students, according to Fordham officials. The plan calls for adding dormitories, library space, a new theater, a new law school and other academic buildings over the next 25 years.

Fordham is one several area universities to run into opposition from community groups over expansion plans. What makes this case a little different is that the opponents live in the midst of the campus.

The fight has its roots in the 1957 urban-renewal deal, championed by Robert Moses, in which the school received a "superblock" for its campus, running from West 60th to West 62nd streets and from Columbus to Amsterdam avenues.

But excluded from the land sale was Power Memorial Academy, a Catholic high school on the block that closed in 1984 and was later purchased by the developer of a 37-story residence called the Alfred Condominium.

In the lawsuit against Fordham's plan, the Alfred's condominium board charged that the city violated the covenants of the urban-renewal deal when it approved the expansion. For example, it said that under the terms, Fordham was required to use the remaining land on the site for academic uses for at least 40 years after the campus was completed. It also said the original deal limited building heights to 200 feet or 20 stories.

But the two residential towers in the plan are slated to be sold to a private developer and will be much taller, one about 600 feet high, according to Fordham. They will be taller than 15 Central Park West and nearly as tall as the Time Warner Center, which rises 750 feet high at Columbus Circle a few blocks away.

Sidney Goldfischer, the condominium board's president, also had "ethical concerns" about putting luxury housing in an urban-renewal site. "The city evicted 1,100 families from this site to create a college campus, not for low-rise housing," he said.

In a 22-page decision handed down on Monday, Justice Judith Gische rejected the condo's challenge. She said that over the years, the city had changed the terms set out in the original deed turning over the property to Fordham. She ruled that while the condo could challenge the latest land-use changes, it no longer had the right to challenge the earlier decisions by the city to change the rules.

Fordham spokesman Thomas Dunne said the decision was a significant victory for the university. Elliott Meisel, a lawyer representing the condo, said it would likely appeal.

Mr. Meisel said that the city had "rubber-stamped" the Fordham plan without adequate review. "This is an extraordinarily important land-use decision made by the city almost invisible to the public," he said.

Mr. Dunne said Fordham had undertaken an extensive outreach effort to the community.

Write to Josh Barbanel at josh.barbanel@wsj.com