Wagner College will receive $15 million in funds to renovate two buildings on its Staten Island campus through a new lending facility that was introduced late last year by the city.
The debt was part of $37 million approved yesterday by the Economic Development Corporation, the city organization that oversees the funding vehicle, which is called Build NYC.
Wagner will use the loan to improve and repair two buildings, the college’s historic Main Hall and a dormitory building. Main Hall, a striking Gothic building that is one of the scenic campus’s most iconic structures, will receive a host of repairs, including brickwork and the replacement of its roof.
“Main Hall has served as Wagner’s signature building, a splendid example of collegiate architecture,” Richard Guarasci, Wagner College’s president said in a statement released by the EDC. “I am pleased, then, that we have been able to undertake this project. Once work is completed, this wonderful building will be… restored to its former glory.”
The rest of the money was granted to three other educational groups, the Corlears School, the Metropolitan Montessori School and Yeshiva Har Torah, which will receive $10 million, $9 million and $3 million respectively, all to refinance existing debt.
Build NYC is a funding window that allows non-profit groups and educational insitutions to issue bonds to finance real estate development projects and other construction related spending. The vehicle is not paid for by the city but private buyers of the bonds such as banks or other investors and offers below-market interest rates for the borrower because the proceeds on the debt are triple tax exempt.
The assistance provided to these institutions is further proof of Build NYC’s growing importance to the City’s non-profit sector,” Seth Pinsky, president of the EDC and Build NYC’s chairman said in a statement. “By reducing costs, Build NYC will better equip these four leading New York City educational establishments to cultivate the next generation of talented students, and make certain the City remains the home of the best and brightest minds on the planet.”
