Former East Village Elementary School to Become Multi-College Dormitory
By Billy Gray April 15, 2013 4:18 pm
reprintsThe East Village is about to gain a 500-bed dormitory that will house students from a number of local colleges, including Cooper Union.
An investment group led by Gregg Singer will spend $40 million converting the 152,000-square-foot former site of P.S. 64 at 605 East 9th Street to a college residence that will be called University House. Mr. Singer bought the property for $3.15 in 1998, and it has sat vacant for a decade, the Wall Street Journal reports. During that time, the community rallied against Mr. Singer’s more ambitious plans to build a 19 to 23-story dorm on the site, which once also housed a community center. 
Cooper Union signed a 15-year lease for 200 beds in the building. Mr. Singer told the Journal that he expects the rent to be around $1,550 per bed per month. A study by the consulting firm Greenwich Associates last year concluded that Manhattan would need an additional 57,000 beds to meet a growing college student population.
The Commercial Observer last month reported on Pace University‘s growing retail presence in Lower Manhattan, where it has recently bought several buildings to be used as dormitories and instructional facilities.
