V VA Project Managers & Consultants begins construction of the NY Law School tower

According to VVA Project Managers & Consultants and NYLS project team members, the new NY Law School building at West Broadway and Leonard St. in downtown Manhattan is coming out of the ground. The steel beams, which comprise the core and shell of building, have begun to rise while four floors of the building are being constructed underground. This underground portion of the building is only possible because a complex perimeter slurry wall was built. The slurry wall, which is approximately 100 ft. deep, was created by excavating sections of the earth one at a time, all the way to the bedrock below Manhattan Island, to create a "panel." This concrete panel is then securely fastened into the existing bedrock in order to create a "bathtub," which prevents water penetration to the inside of the foundation, and allows for habitation of the below grade space. The project, taking place at NY Law School's main campus, includes the development of a new 235,000 s/f building, which contains new classrooms, student space, a law library, auditorium, student cafeteria, and faculty dining areas. The project also includes a bookstore for the school at 40 Worth St., which is run by Barnes and Noble. "VVA was retained by NY Law School in 2004 to assist with the early planning stages of the project including due diligence, lease negotiations, site negotiations and procurement of the team as well as project management of the development," said Irwin Schneider, partner-in-charge of the NYLS project, "We are very proud of our involvement in such a complex, monumental project for downtown New York. VVA prides itself on providing innovative solutions to complex issues and this project certainly personifies these values." NYLS is zoned to build a five-story building, making it necessary to build four floors below grade in order to attain the necessary amount of programmed space. "The resulting construction is very similar to that of the original World Trade Center site, where they excavated to build a basement bathtub and slurry wall," said Curt Epstein, project manager for VVA on the NYLS project. "This is essentially a mining operation until the entire underground structure of the building is completed. In addition, the tightness of the site and proximity to subway lines only serve to make it more complicated." Construction is expected to be complete in December 2008 with NY Law School taking occupancy shortly there after.