Metropolitan College to Offload Lower Manhattan Campus Prior to Default

The Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY) plans to sell part of its Lower Manhattan campus ahead of an intentional default on its Nov. 1 debt payment.

MCNY will sell “either in whole or in part” its campus in Manhattan, court records made public Wednesday show. Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) will act as the school’s broker in the deal, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news.

It’s unclear how much of its campus MCNY will offload, but the institution owns a 110,000-square-foot space at 40 Rector Street in the Financial District, according to a 2016 release. The building at the corner of Rector Street and West Street has an alternative address of 60 West Street, the Manhattan address listed on the college’s website. MCNY also has a campus at 463 East 149th Street in the Bronx, which it’s not planning to sell.

The private college will sell its Manhattan campus as part of a “forbearance agreement” with bondholders to skip its November debt payment on $61 million in outstanding bonds, Bloomberg reported, citing the securities filing.

A spokesperson for C&W did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The Manhattan campus is underutilized, and MCNY plans to sell part of that space,” a spokesperson for the school said in a statement to Commercial Observer. “The college will also consider offers for its entire Manhattan campus. MCNY intends to consolidate operations on the remaining floors of its Manhattan campus, the Bronx campus, and elsewhere as needed based on the details of the sale.”

MCNY’s space at 40 Rector Street has 16 classrooms, 59 offices, two computer labs, a library, a student lounge, and four conference rooms, according to C&W’s website.

Schools like MCNY may be struggling to meet payments and fill classrooms due to declines in enrollment thanks to high tuition, Bloomberg reported. 

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.