In 1985, Columbia University commissioned a master plan for the new Audubon Research and Technology Park adjacent to the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. The goal of the master plan was to promote science, provide new modes of health care, stimulate business, create jobs, and help improve neighborhood life.

The plan was in response to Columbia’s desire to create a special district for laboratories on a triangular site next to the medical center. What complicated the proposed plan was the presence of the historic Audubon Ballroom, site of the slaying of Malcolm X, on one part of the site and the desire of the community to be included in a project which would significantly change the neighborhood. The solution allowed the medical center to build to the maximum height by including facilities and jobs for the community and providing for the restoration of the ballroom.

The Irving Cancer Research Center completes the elevation on the east side of St. Nicholas Avenue and Broadway, opposite the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center campus, creating a unified research park.

Project Information
Building Owner:		Columbia University
Building Location:		New York City, New York UNITED STATES
Project Type:		New Construction
Principal Building Function:		Medical research facility
Project Timeline		May 2005 Completion Last known status: Completed
Construction Cost:		$65,000,000
Cost Per Sq. Ft:		$213
		About These Cost Figures
Building Information
Project Includes:		Education Education: Biology Education: Chemistry Healthcare: Cancer Center Healthcare: Hospital Laboratory Laboratory: Research Parking Structure Research Retail Vivarium
Total GSF:		320,000
Project Team
Profile Created 10/01/2005
Last Updated 11/06/2006
About the Reported Cost Figures The cost figures reported are supplied by the firms that submitted these projects for publication, which in most cases are the designers or builders. Whereas these sources are intimately familiar with their projects, they may not be fully aware of the owners' finally-realized and recorded costs. In some cases, costs are truly and completely accounted for, and in others they represent a near approximation of the final costs. Costs have not been adjusted for year of construction, nor has any attempt been made to make regional cost adjustments. Further, costs are not comparable on any kind of detailed standard costing model. Hence, it is possible for the cost of one building to include a steam boiler, while the cost of a comparable building might not include the boiler, if steam is being supplied from an already existing campus grid. Or, in another case, a building might include excess boiler capacity to supply steam to another building. Some submittals include fees or unusual site improvements as part of the construction costs, which others do not.