Six years after Cornell University won a bid to build a new Applied Sciences campus on Roosevelt Island, New York City's newest tech hub is open for school and business.
A partnership with Cornell and the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, the new campus on the southern end of the island features three buildings: two blending classrooms, office space and labs for students and startups alike, and a third building housing students and faculty. But as Cornell Tech's Dean Dan Huttenlocher sees it, the campus could be much more than a place for students looking to break into the industry: it could be a new breeding ground for the next big tech companies.
"We're able to create first-class office space on a university campus, bring in great companies and really create an environment where those companies can collaborate with those students, with the faculty, and get those things out there," Huttonlocher says.
According to Huttonlocher, the campus aims to serve as an incubator for new companies that can take advantage of the data-heavy industries that make their homes in New York City, like the hospitality and finance industries. Cornell Tech already houses offices for Citigroup and the investment firm of Two Sigma, as well as the chocolate giant Ferrero. Now that the site is finally open, though, Huttonlocher hopes they will be joined soon by other companies hoping to take advantage of the location and to see the students as resources and collaborators.
As for the buildings themselves, those years of development and construction have resulted in state-of-the-art facilities that include one of the first so-called "passive" high rises. The 26-story residential building, known as "The House," was designed to use up to 70 percent less energy than most buildings of its size, thanks to thermal insulation installed around the entire structure, and a ventilation system that automatically "breathes" in fresh air and "exhales" stale air. In addition, the building features great views of the surrounding boroughs and the Queensboro Bridge.
The campus' location on Roosevelt Island isn't just about the view, though. From its site right in the middle of the East River, Cornell Tech has easy access to every borough but Staten Island, giving both its students and the startups based at its facilities access to potential users of all sorts throughout New York City.
"You don't have to sit in traffic for seven hours going from one suburb to another in Silicon Valley to find your users," Huttonlocher says. "They're here."
The first phase of the campus' development is scheduled to be finished in 2019, once a new conference center and hotel are completed.