SPARC Kips Bay
Aerial rendering of the SPARC campus within the Manhattan skyline. Credit: SOM/Mysis
DBI Projects is engaged by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) on the first-of-its-kind Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC) Kips Bay development in Manhattan, a joint New York City- and New York State-funded project.
DBI, in collaboration with Sterling Project Development (SPD), is serving as Owner’s Representative on phase one to develop the site’s over 600,000-sf eastern tower, supporting the NYCEDC from pre-construction, through construction, commissioning, and closeout.
The SPARC Kips Bay project will transform the current site of Hunter College’s Brookdale Campus along FDR Drive between E 25th and 26th Streets into a life sciences education hub. The project will be delivered in two phases, with phase one including the ground-up construction of a new tower for the Hunter College School of Nursing, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, Borough of Manhattan Community College, open space and flood protection, a health-and-science-focused New York City Public Schools high school, and a pedestrian bridge. Phase two will include up to one million square feet of life sciences real estate, a Bellevue/NYC Health + Hospitals outpatient care and advanced nursing practice simulation training center, and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner’s forensic pathology center and forensic toxicology laboratory. Ennead and Dattner have been engaged to lead the design of the phase one building, and Skanska will serve as the construction manager. DBI and SPD’s team additionally includes Turnkey Consulting, Stantec, Sillman, and Legacy Engineers.
The NYCEDC estimates SPARC Kips Bay will create more than 15,000 jobs, including 12,000 construction and 3,100 permanent jobs, and generate $42 Billion in economic impact. Additionally, as part of the Green Economy Action Plan, SPARC Kips Bay will be the first project to implement NYCEDC’s Circular Design & Construction Guidelines. The guidelines promote reducing embodied carbon, deconstructing buildings in lieu of demolition, and reusing existing materials. By using innovative circular construction methods on this phase of the project, SPARC Kips Bay is anticipated to reduce 26,400 metric tons of carbon emissions – equivalent to removing nearly 5,800 cars from the road. This project will serve as an example of circular construction for other large public and private projects.
