New York Construction Report staff writer
The New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC) has released a request for proposals (RFP) for a construction management firm for the first phase of the Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC) Kips Bay project in New York City.
The total anticipated contract award is expected to be over $1 billion, and the work will be governed under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). Construction is expected to begin at the end of 2025 and is anticipated to be completed in 2031.
“As New York continues to reinvigorate its economy, we must invest in development projects that will help New York City deepen its role as a leader in healthcare and life sciences infrastructure, creating thousands of family sustaining careers along the way,” Gary LaBarbera, president, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said in a statement.
“I applaud the city, state, and EDC for advancing SPARC by releasing a RFP seeking a construction manager, which will help further the project and establish New York City as leading the way in research and scientific advancement. This new public health and education hub will also pave accessible paths to the middle class for hard working people including the union workers who will build it from the ground up.”
The construction manager will oversee:
- Deconstruction of the existing buildings on the current Hunter Brookdale School of Nursing;
- Construction of the first phase of the SPARC Kips Bay development — over 600,000 square feet of educational facilities for the City University of New York (CUNY) and New York City Public Schools (NYCPS), SPARC Square – a new central public open space on the campus, and flood protection measures;
- And reconstruction of the existing 25th Street pedestrian bridge over the FDR Drive with new ADA access and universal design.
Construction of the first phase of the SPARC Kips Bay development includes more than 600,000 sq. ft. of educational facilities for the City University of New York (CUNY) and New York City Public Schools (NYCPS), with SPARC Square, a new central public open space on the campus, and flood protection measures.
SPARC Kips Bay is a city and state project that will transform Hunter College’s Brookdale School of Nursing Campus into nearly two million sq. ft. of new academic, healthcare, and life sciences space.
“With the start of a search for a construction management firm, we are glad that NYCEDC’s Clean and Circular: Design Construction Guidelines, a cleaner and greener way to build municipal infrastructure, will be pioneered in Manhattan Community District 6,” said Sandra McKee, Chair of Manhattan Community Board Six. “SPARC Kips Bay seeks to educate and employ our city’s future life sciences innovators, so its construction should be equally innovative and forward-looking.”
Work will be completed in two phases with phase one constructing the Hunter College School of Nursing, CUNY Graduate School of Health an Policy, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and a health-and-science-focused public high school and phase two building 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.
In late 2023, NYCEDC released a RFP for the design of SPARC Square and other public realm improvements, over 600,000 square feet of educational facilities for the City University of New York and New York City Public Schools, flood protection measures, and a new ADA accessible pedestrian bridge for the project’s first phase. In April, Ennead Architects was selected to complete the design after a competitive RFP process. Earlier this year, NYCEDC released a RFEI seeking a life sciences anchor tenant for Phase 2 of SPARC Kips Bay. Later this month, SPARC Kips Bay will certify into the Uniform Land User Review Procedure (ULURP).
