Cornell to Pay $10M Next Week to Start Construction Process

Cornell University will pay the city $10 million by next week as the first step in getting its new Roosevelt Island campus off the ground, according to a lease agreement released Monday. The university must submit a $5 million pre-development deposit and a $5 million security deposit by January 17. The deal includes stiff penalties if Cornell does not adhere to a detailed timetable to get the project off the ground quickly.
 
Cornell has until November 10 to submit its Uniform Land Use Review Procedure application, or face fines of $1,000 a day, increasing to $6,000 a day after 10 months. A late draft environmental impact statement would cost it another $1 million.

The deal calls for three phases of construction, with the first commencing January 1, 2015, and including 300,000 square feet of space to be built by June 30, 2017. By the time the third phase is completed,  the campus will encompass some 1.8 million square feet of buildings.
 

To accelerate the project, the agreement includes many provisions that are typically negotiated at a later phase. Construction workers must be paid at prevailing wage or via approved project labor agreements and there must be M/WBE participation to ensure minorities and women are included in the construction process.

Cornell, teaming up with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and will get $100 million from the city to help defray infrastructure costs. The mayor has not ruled out selecting a runner-up or runners-up from among several remaining contenders.