University of Texas Plans Manhattan Campus
By Rebecca Baird-Remba January 21, 2020 5:50 pm
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The University of Texas at Austin is opening a campus in New York City and has leased space at the Club Row Building in Midtown, Commercial Observer has learned.
The public institution has leased 15,212 square feet on the 15th floor of the 22-story building at 28 West 44th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas, according to Newmark (NMRK) Knight Frank. Asking rent in the seven-year lease was $66 a square foot.
The space will be used for alumni relations, meeting rooms and classrooms “that will be built out with a distinctly Texan feel including exposed brick and barn doors,” according to a press release from NKF.
UT Austin students will come to New York to “intern in a field related to their interests and study online with UT Austin-based faculty in courses tailored to the New York urban environment,” according to the program’s website. Roughly 50 students are expected to participate in the spring 2020 semester.
Landlord APF Properties is in the midst of renovating the 372,000-square-foot building and plans to add a dedicated tenant lounge with conference rooms, a coffee bar, pantry, lounge seating and snacks.
“We were excited to work with the University of Texas to bring to life this Texan-inspired home for their students in the heart of Manhattan,” said Kenneth Aschendorf from APF Properties in prepared remarks. “CUNY already has a large presence in our building, and our location on ‘Club Row,’ home to the Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Penn, and Columbia university clubs made us the obvious choice for UT.”
Andy Sachs, Tim Gibson, Josh Gosin and Matthew Augarten of NKF represented the owner in the deal, while Justin Halpern and John Harris of Cushman & Wakefield represented the University of Texas.
“The fact that the space held such appeal for a university always looking for cutting edge spaces and progressive teaching environments for its students is a testament to the recent improvements APF has made to The Club Row Building,” Sachs said in a statement.
