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New Haven School District Receiving Major Overhaul

For the first time in 28 years, the New York City Department of Education has partnered with a developer to build a new school as part of the Educational Construction Fund.

“The Department of Education has a five-year capital program for delivering 63,000 school seats,” says Jamie Smarr, executive director of the Educational Construction Fund. “It’s been the direction of the chairman that we should use every means necessary, in combination with the funding the city is providing, to deliver the seats. That’s the primary reason we revived this program.”

In the case of the East Side Middle School, No. 114, the fund partnered with 1765 First Associates, a partnership of the DeMatteis Organizations and the Mattone Group, both of New York, to build the new school in exchange for a 75-year ground lease and air rights above the school that allow the developers to construct a luxury, high-rise cooperative apartment tower. The city will continue to own the property. The air rights allow the developers to build a taller tower, but do not require the structure rise in the actual space above the five-story school.

The fund was created in 1967 and created more than 18,000 school seats through the 1970s. Then the district stopped using the program until it sought to redevelop a parcel on the East Side on which sat an abandoned school.

It asked for proposals for the city-owned property. DeMatteis submitted a plan accepted by the fund in part because it offered the highest price and because of its experience in building schools, Smarr says.

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“We knew it was not an issue to have them in the developer role, where they were also expected to build a school, because it was within their expertise,” Smarr adds. “School construction is not for everyone.”

DeMatteis is constructing the $45 million, 550-seat school to the Department of Education’s specifications. The city will maintain the building. It will have mechanical systems independent of the residential tower. “The city winds up getting a new school at no cost to the city’s capital construction budget,” says John Caiazzo, vice president of real estate development for the DeMatteis Organizations. “The developer gets a site without the initial cost for land. We have a ground lease. It’s a good combination for all.”

East Side Middle School’s new 79,000-sq-ft facility and the 241,000-sq-ft, 32-story tower broke ground in September 2007, with substantial completion scheduled for early 2009. The two portions of the building will have separate entrances and function independently. However to transfer the air rights, the two buildings must attach structurally. “It’s a challenge to make sure the design of all the services work, so the school has autonomy and the residence has autonomy,” Caiazzo says.

SLCE of New York designed the glass and brick-clad residential tower and Mitchell | Giurgola Architects of New York the school.

“Our building is a slender footprint tower on a base,” says James Davidson, a partner with SLCE. “We thought an Upper East Side building needed an appropriate mix of glass as well as masonry.”

Paul Broches, FAIA, a partner with Michell | Giurgola, took a different approach, keeping the scale closer to the parochial school next door yet not competing with the historic detail of that structure by creating a more contemporary, brick facade.

“The elevations are intended to reflect the programs behind it,” says Broches.

Planters and sidewalk furniture grace the front and provide for an inviting streetscape.

Mitchell | Giurgola designed an L-shaped building, with a “vest pocket” play yard. That allows light into the classroom spaces. The wall of a neighboring building will receive a stucco coating to help reflect light and better illuminate the schoolrooms.

The building contains 18 full-size classrooms, a District 75 special education classroom suite, cafeteria served by a full kitchen, library, administrative spaces and gymnasium located on the third floor above classroom space. The gymnasium will sit on a floating slab to avoid disruption of learning that could be caused by a thumping basketball or other activities.

Clerestory windows at the upper level of the gymnasium will create an animated appearance for the schoolduring the day and on the frequent occasions when it is used for evening community events. The first-floor entry will contain a mosaic wall piece created by artist Mary Temple, which depicts sunlight filtered through tree leaves and branches and was funded through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art program.

The school will sit on 126 caissons and the tower 80 caissons. The site at one time held a landfill, with decomposed materials remaining. The piles are driven 25 ft to 50 ft down to bedrock.

“The foundation was pretty challenging because of the unstable subsoil conditions,” Caiazzo says. “And the tower goes down one more level than the school, making some challenging aspects at the connection of both buildings.”

The foundation will support the reinforced concrete tower and the structural-steel frame school.

Different subcontractors work on the school and residential tower.

“It was more efficient to go and get prices from people who specialize in different types of construction,” Caiazzo says. “We use those school subcontractors best suited for that portion of the work.”

1765 First also keeps budget and accounting for the two portions of the project separate. The tower is financed independently from the school. Residences are priced from $600,000 for a studio in the base of the building to more than $2 million for a four- or five-bedroom unit.

The Educational Construction Fund plans more partnerships with developers to build schools in compatible-use projects. It currently has a 315,000-sq-ft school on East 57th Street in the planning stages.

“Because it is based on getting a developer to agree to pay for the cost of the school, these projects follow the business cycles,” Smarr says. “When the real estate market in doing very well, you can expect we will be doing these. If it’s not doing well or there’s an overall recession in the economy, it would be difficult to do these things. We will use it strategically to augment the school construction the city undertakes with its tax funds.”

Team Box:

Owner: 1765 First Associates, a partnership of the DeMatteis Organizations and the Mattone Group, New York
Contractor: Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp., New York
Architects: SLCE, New York and Mitchell | Giurgola Architects, New York

Useful Sources

The Azure
http://www.azureny.com/
Educational Construction Fund
http://schools.nyc.gov/community/facilities/ecf/default.htm

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