Levien & Co. to manage $100m relocation and expansion project

Levien & Company has been retained to oversee the $100 million expansion and relocation project for The Abraham Joshua Heschel School on Manhattan's West Side, according to Kenneth Levien, AIA, president of the project management firm. The project will unite Heschel's early childhood center, lower, middle and high schools at one site at West End Ave. and West 61st St., which is adjacent to the location of the high school. The lower and middle schools will relocate from 270 West 89th St. and 314 West 91st St., respectively. A new 142,000 s/f, nine-story building will house students from nursery through eighth grade. Each school division will be housed in its own part of the building. The consolidated campus will allow the Heschel School to accommodate more than 1,000 students, a significant increase from the current limit of 789 students. "Levien has extensive experience in working with schools, and we are privileged to help Heschel realize its vision for a single campus identity," said Amy Cohn, project manager at Levien & Co. "We have an excellent design team led by architect Gruzen Samton, with engineering firms Altieri Sebor Wieber (M/E/P), Robert Silman Associates (structure), Atelier 10 (sustainability/environmental) and Langan (geotechnical/environmental); and with F. J. Sciame Construction Co. providing pre-construction services during design." Construction began with abatement and demolition in the spring, and the full project will proceed this September. Completion is expected in the fall of 2012.