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Stanford New York City Proposal
SC1109
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Stanford New York City proposal
creator:
Stanford University
Identifier/Call Number: SC1109
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 2011-2012
Abstract: Proposals and website documenting
Stanford New York city campus proposal.
The materials consist Stanford's proposals submitted to the New York City Economic
Development Corp. (NYCEDC); 2 volumes : color illustrations ; 30 cm. Also included is its
website documenting the Stanford proposal.
The materials are open for research use. Note: to protect personal and financial
information of Stanford individuals pages 369-376 (Volume 1, Section 10: Doing Business Data
Form) and pages 390-405 (Volume 2: Appendix B: Internal Background Investigation
Questionnaire) were removed from the online version. An unredacted version is restricted
until 2086.
In December, 2010 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the city would pursue the
possibility of attracting a world-class university to create a research and graduate
teaching center focused on applied science and technology. Stanford accepted the invitation
from the New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC) to explore the opportunity.
President Hennessy stated: "Stanford has served as an intellectual incubator for the
emergence of the Silicon Valley and has the potential to do so again. The opportunity
presented by the city of New York is one that Stanford should at least explore. The concept
as laid out by New York plays to many of our strengths, particularly the innovative and
entrepreneurial spirit that characterizes this university."
Eighteen other American and international institutions joined a small team from Stanford at
an information session in New York Feb. 8 and 9. They met with city officials to learn more
about the project and its goals.
An initial concept was formulated to be a center focused on information technology, with a
first phase of 25 faculty, 125 doctoral students and 250 or more master's degree students.
The faculty would initially come primarily from the School of Engineering and the Graduate
School of Business, including experts in areas such as information technology, innovation
and entrepreneurship. Stanford would use advances in technology as well as its long
experience in distance education to allow East Coast and West Coast locations to share
courses and support cross-country research collaborations
On March 17, 2011 Stanford University formally submitted a tentative proposal to the city
of New York to build a campus for applied science research and graduate education on
Roosevelt Island, with the intent that the campus would serve as a hub for innovation and
economic growth.
The Stanford proposal, submitted in response to a New York City request for expressions of
interest, outlines a high-technology campus that could be constructed in phases over 25
years to provide graduate degree-granting programs for students in engineering, computer
science and business.
Under an aggressive timeline, the university proposed starting construction on the first
phase in 2013 and enrolling 440 master's and PhD students by the fall of 2015. Over time,
Stanford envisioned the possibility of as many 2,200 graduate students and 100 faculty
members at a New York City location.
Stanford was joined by 26 other institutions in submitting expressions of interest to the
New York City Economic Development Corporation. Others who submitted proposals included
Cornell, Columbia, Purdue and the University of Chicago.
The proposed Stanford New York campus would draw from various schools, centers and
programs, including the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, the Stanford Graduate School of
Business and the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. The proposal also relies upon very
close integration with the California campus, and the use of distance education and
telepresence systems to connect students, faculty and researchers at the two locations.
Of four possible locations put forth by the city of New York, Stanford has used the
Roosevelt Island site as a model for its proposal. The land is located in the middle of the
East River between Manhattan and Queens. Facilities to be constructed on the site would have
included academic and research space, as well as housing for students and faculty members.
Funds for capital costs were be expected to come from a combination of philanthropy, New
York City and Stanford University.
In September Stanford created a new website –
Stanford in New York
City
– that describes why the university is well positioned to create a
state-of-the-art engineering and applied sciences campus in New York City.
"Stanford, with its culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, offers New York City a
partner experienced in offering world-class education and research, transferring innovation
to the marketplace, attracting the best faculty and students worldwide and graduating
successful business leaders," the university says on the website.
The site features a fact sheet on Stanford's preliminary proposal; a one-hour video of
President John Hennessy's presentation to the Academic Council on the proposal, followed by
a panel discussion and a Q&A; a list of companies that faculty and alumni have helped
create; and a list of some of the technologies whose origins can be traced to basic research
at Stanford, including modern web-search algorithms, digital sound synthesis and genome
sequencing.
"By leveraging Stanford's formidable strengths in engineering and computer science, the
Stanford Applied Science and Engineering campus in New York City will drive technology
development and innovation; attract world-class engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs and
investors; and generate dozens of new companies and thousands of new jobs," the university
says in a fact sheet.
On October 28th Stanford submitted its proposal to partner with New York City to build
StanfordNYC, a world-class applied sciences and engineering campus that is expected to
attract new talent to the university and to become a new hub of technological innovation and
entrepreneurship in the United States.
Stanford's response to the New York City Economic Development Corporation's request for
proposals called for the 30-year development of a $2.5 billion, 1.9 million-square-foot
campus on Roosevelt Island, focusing on graduate-level teaching and research in engineering,
technology and entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on transferring discoveries to the
marketplace.
The new campus would have provided opportunities for the university to expand its faculty
on the East Coast and to develop new research collaborations with New York industries, and
the possibility of Stanford undergraduates being able to spend one or more quarters studying
in New York.
"StanfordNYC will bring Stanford’s unparalleled track record in research, innovation and
entrepreneurship to New York City, the world's capital of finance, arts and culture,"
Stanford President John Hennessy wrote in the submission letter to New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg.
The New York City campus was expected to house more than 200 faculty members and more than
2,000 students when completed. The StanfordNYC academic program was designed to replicate
the innovation-inspiring, job creating, entrepreneurial culture that has been the hallmark
of Stanford's foundational relationship with Silicon Valley that has spawned thousands of
companies, including Google, Cisco, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard.
Stanford would have committed an initial $200 million toward StanfordNYC that would include
a combination of startup costs and an initial endowment to support research on the
campus.
An accelerated launch of the campus was planned for 2013 in partnership with City College
of New York, where Stanford would locate its academic program while the new campus is built.
In addition, joint programs would be developed by CCNY and Stanford in undergraduate
entrepreneurship education and to allow undergraduate students at CCNY to pursue graduate
degrees at StanfordNYC. Stanford also anticipated additional partnerships with New York-area
institutions and outreach to local K-12 schools as part of a robust community engagement
program.
A faculty committee worked over the summer months to design an academic program for
StanfordNYC that draws from Stanford's top-ranked programs in engineering, computer science,
entrepreneurship, business and technology management. One initial emphasis was be on
research and education related to New York's dominant industries of finance and media.
Stanford's School of Engineering and Graduate School of Business, as well as its Hasso
Plattner Institute of Design and Stanford Technology Ventures Program, would be located at
StanfordNYC and be seamlessly integrated with the California campus through the use of
telepresence technology and online education.
"We can create a community of scholars in an entirely new environment, generating the next
wave of ideas and breakthroughs. Innovation happens when you are challenged by new problems,
and look at solutions from new perspectives," said Jim Plummer, dean of Stanford's School of
Engineering.
Silicon Valley venture capitalists indicated that they would follow Stanford to New York
City.
"It is no accident – U.S. venture capital plus Stanford tech/business entrepreneurship has
helped transform the world economy," said John Doerr and Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers, who sent a letter in support of the StanfordNYC proposal. "If NYC
selects Stanford as its partner for the next great tech/business innovation center, it
should help turbocharge an already growing center of innovation which is helping extend our
country's leadership in technology."
StanfordNYC would occupy an iconic, state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable campus on
10 acres on Roosevelt Island, expected to open in 2016. Of four possible locations put forth
by the city, Stanford selected Roosevelt Island, on the East River, for its proximity to
Manhattan and Queens, easy public transportation access and its existing, diverse
residential community. Space for teaching, research and faculty and student housing, as well
as startup company incubator space, would be constructed and integrated into a natural,
park-like setting with open space. Plans called for all buildings to achieve LEED Platinum
status for energy efficiency, low carbon emissions and minimal use of water and other
resources.
The proposal is in response to Mayor Bloomberg's call in late July for specific plans for
an applied sciences facility in New York City. The city is putting forward up to $100
million to the successful institution as well as access to city-owned land. Stanford was one
of 27 institutions that responded with an expression of interest last March, and spent three
months since the city issued the RFP developing its detailed plans. Stanford's 600-page
submission includes detailed academic, financial, design and legal documents. The proposal
was approved by the Stanford University Board of Trustees at their October meeting and was
reviewed and discussed in the Faculty Senate on Oct. 13.
On October 31, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that the city received
seven qualifying responses to Applied Sciences NYC, its initiative to build or expand a
state-of-the-art engineering and applied sciences campus in the city.Bloomberg said that the
city, along with an advisory committee, would evaluate the proposals over the next several
weeks, with a decision expected in January. (Earlier, the city said it would make a decision
in December.)
The institutions that submitted proposals were:
Amity University (India) Carnegie Mellon University and Steiner Studios Columbia University
Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology New York University, with the
University of Toronto, the University of Warwick (England), the Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay, the City University of New York and Carnegie Mellon University New York
Genome Center, with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine; The Rockefeller University and the
State University of New York at Stony Brook Stanford University and The City College of New
York.
The proposals containrf plans for new facilities ranging from just under 400,000 square
feet to more than 2 million square feet, the mayor's office said in a news release. The
institutions proposed private investments of more than $800 million during the first phases
of their projects, with long-term plans for more than $2.5 billion in private
investment.
"Universities are always a major magnet for talent – and the world's most dynamic companies
always gravitate to places where they can find the best and the brightest," Bloomberg said.
"Along with everything we are doing to diversify and strengthen our economy, a new applied
sciences campus has the potential to be a real economic game changer that will create jobs
immediately, and for generations."
On December 16, 2011 Stanford withdrew its application after several weeks of negotiations
with New York City. University leaders and the Stanford Board of Trustees determined that it
would not be in the best interests of the university to continue to pursue the opportunity.
In a press release, President John Hennessy said the university and city "could not find a
way to realize our mutual goals."
NYC later announced that Cornell University, in partnership with Technion of Israel, will
build the applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island.
In late December members of the StanfordNYC team discussed its decision to withdraw its
application. They stated that during the negotiation process the city introduced additional
requirements that increased the risks and costs for Stanford and decreased the potential
benefit.
"We were very much hoping for a successful outcome, but it became apparent that there were
areas where the city and university were not going to agree. Beyond the academic part of the
proposal, the project involved numerous land use, real estate, zoning, construction
timetables with significant penalties and other details. In a project of this nature,
involving a significant investment by both the city and a much larger investment by the
university, both sides need to be willing to accept a certain level of risk. Ultimately, we
decided we could not accept the level of risk that the city wanted us to accept."
The trustees were briefed on the status of the negotiations and indicated that they were
not comfortable with the city's requests and asked us to continue negotiating. Negotiations
continued for several more days, and it was concluded that Stanford could not reach an
agreement with the city that would assure that a Stanford campus in NYC could be
successful.
A final decision was made after President Hennessy spoke to Deputy Mayor Bob Steel and
Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the morning of Dec. 16.
In preparing the proposal, responding to questions and through the negotiations, the
university spent about $3 million on the proposal, primarily for outside consultants and
architects. This was required for the due diligence to fully respond to an extensive RFP for
a project that ultimately could have cost $2.5 billion over several decades. The NYC RFP
required all competing institutions to turn in completed plans, including architectural
renderings, as well as numerous legal documents that required the assistance of New York
land use and real estate attorneys and experts, as well as labor experts. Much of Stanford's
proposal was also developed in-house, with considerable input on the academic program coming
from faculty.
In the end the StanfordNYC team said that it was worth the effort. "We received
tremendously positive visibility over the course of almost a year throughout the East Coast.
It was gratifying to see the welcome that we received in NYC, not just by the tech industry,
but also by the public. There was genuine excitement at the potential for Stanford in New
York. The people of New York now have an increased appreciation of the excellence of
Stanford, both academically and in terms of our contributions to technology and our ability
to generate job growth. Here in California, our participation in this NYC effort was in
keeping with our reputation for exploring bold ideas. As is well known in Silicon Valley,
not all great ideas work out, but that does not mean it is a mistake to pursue them.
Stanford engaged in this selection process because of the project’s great promise, and
withdrew when it became apparent to us that this would not be an achievable undertaking for
the university."
[identification of item], Stanford New York City Proposal (SC1109). Dept. of Special
Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
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Subjects and Indexing Terms
Campus planning -- California -- Stanford
New York City
Universities and colleges -- Administration.
Stanford University -- Administration.
Stanford University -- Planning.
Universities and colleges -- New York (State) -- New York --
Planning.
Stanford University