New York University President L. Jay Oliva today announced that NYU has completed the purchase of the 14th Street site that was formerly home to the Palladium nightclub. The site will be used for the construction of a new residence hall which will provide apartment style accommodations for some 1,000 students.
In the last fifteen years, NYU has almost quadrupled the number of students it houses: from 2,100 to some 8,000 this year. The residence hall on the Palladium site is expected to be completed sometime late in the year 2000. A residence hall currently being constructed on a nearby site formerly occupied by Luchow’s restaurant will open next fall and provide housing for some 600 students.
In additional to the residential accommodations, the University also plans to develop retail space on the lower floors of the site and to provide facilities for student dining and other student services.
The acquisition and development of the Palladium site is the latest step in NYU’s sustained efforts to provide housing for a student body that is increasingly national and international in character. It reflects the ongoing, two-decades-long transformation of NYU from a commuter school to one of the nation’s most prestigious research universities.
During the six years of Dr. Oliva’s presidency, applications for freshmen admission have increased 115%, from 10,000 per year to 21,500.
Dr. Oliva said, “I am very pleased by this announcement. For some years, NYU’s excellent programs and faculty have drawn greater numbers of highly competitive students from outside our area and outside our country. Accordingly, we have had to confront a persistent, growing need to house these students. Through acquisition, construction and leasing, we have made great strides over the last decade and a half, almost quadrupling our capacity.
“Yet all the while, we remained keenly aware of and sensitive to our neighborhood environment. We have used great selectivity in choosing sites for new residence halls, working carefully to recognize the special character of Greenwich Village and picking sites that would not disrupt that character.
“Today we are announcing an important new step - this site on 14th Street will be a great help in our long term efforts to develop housing for our student body.”
New York University was established in 1831 and has some 13 schools, colleges and divisions educating students in the arts and sciences, medicine, law, education, business, the cinematic and performing arts, nursing, social work, public policy and planning, among others areas. NYU has some 16,500 undergraduates.