611 W. 112th Street Renovation

About this Project

Columbia University purchased the building at 611 W. 112th Street, sometimes referred to as the Maranamay building, in 2022. The property, a former single room occupancy building, has been vacant for many years and had deteriorating conditions due to holes in the roof and water damage.

The university intends to perform an interior gut renovation and exterior restoration of the property for future university housing. The project scope includes a building-wide replacement of floor and roof structure; historical restoration of the exterior masonry and recreation of the cornices; replacement of windows; new interior finishes; new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing; fire alarm, fire protection and security systems, and the creation of a new, accessible entrance.

Schedule

Construction will begin in July 2023 and is anticipated to be complete in Fall 2024. Regular work hours will be 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Some after-hours work may be performed in accordance with all required permits.

Project Phases

July 2023 - Mobilization:
- Installation of overhead protection in neighboring courtyards, alleyways and backyards. All protection will have lighting installed.
- Roof Protection on neighboring property to the east and west.
- Installation of material hoist within Construction Staging/Loading Zone barricades within parking lane and in the north courtyard
- South side parking lane and school drop-off zone is maintained.
August 2023 to April 2024 - Phase I of Exterior and Interior Renovation:
- Installation of full exterior scaffold system on all sides of the building. Scaffold will be fully netted.
- Existing openings in building to be temporarily sealed.
- Select exterior wall demolition, roof replacement, new window installation, brick replacement and historic façade restoration.
- Interior work will include demolition, new foundation, floor replacement, new wall construction.
April 2024 to November 2024 - Phase II of Exterior and Interior Renovation:
- Removal of exterior scaffolding and netting on all elevations of the building.
- Completion of historic façade restoration on the ground floor.
- Completion of utility connections/street work.
- Installation of landscaping and hardscapes in the building’s courtyards and front entrance.
- Interior work will include wall construction, equipment, painting, flooring.

NOTE: The construction timeline is an estimate only. The timeline is subject to change due to weather, field conditions and other external factors.

Sustainability

This project is pursuing a LEED Silver Certification, with notable sustainability features including all fossil free equipment (except for a 200Kw backup generator for life safety systems/emergency loads) and sustainable roof zones. This would be the first undergraduate residence hall at the University to achieve LEED certification.

What to Expect

As with most construction projects, the renovation of 611 W. 112th Street will have some impacts while construction takes place. Some impacts to expect include increased traffic, noise, and closure of the sidewalk in front of the building, and minimal street closures.

Frequently Asked Questions

Adjacent buildings, access and alleyways will have an engineered, overhead protection system installed in compliance with NYC Department of Buildings regulations.

Clean construction noise mitigation measures include use of electric equipment when possible, noise reduction blankets, mufflers on certain equipment, and self-adjusting backup alarms on vehicles that automatically adjust volume. Window openings will be temporarily infilled to minimize interior noise and dust. Exterior work that generates significant noise will not have work hours past 6:00 pm.

Trucks will back up into the occupied parking lane along the north side of 112th and minimize construction traffic and idling. Delivery hours will be between 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with blackout windows as coordinated with school drop off and pickup.

Pedestrian traffic is anticipated to be diverted to the south side of 112th Street at each crosswalk at Riverside and Broadway, as well as the parking lane closure in front of 611 W. 112th Street, extending east roughly 160 feet in front of the 605 W. 112th Street property.

Abatement will be performed for roofing material and window caulk. This type of abatement is common, especially for buildings of this age. The abatement will be performed by a licensed environmental services contractor following all city and state regulations to ensure safety for the workers and the community.

There are several reasons why the equipment slated for the roof must be located on the roof:

Air handling units are 100% outside air so roof mounting them allows us to bring in the outside air and exhaust the air. Also, it needs to be close to the condensing variable refrigerant flow (VRF) unit used for the coil in the unit that needs to be roof mounted.
Water heaters want to down feed due to pressure and are since they are heat pumps need to be close to an outdoor environment for heat absorption.
VRF units also are using outdoor air for heat rejection/absorption and are to be outdoor mounted.
Generator needs a large amount of outdoor air for the radiator cooling and indoors we could not provide the proper amount of air for the radiator.

NYC Noise Control Code regulates limits of sound generated by equipment. To comply, various measures will be in place to limit noise transmission and meet regulated limits, including equipment sound attenuation and sound barriers. Design of these measures uses base readings of ambient noise in the neighborhood.

Vibrations are required to be monitored through devices placed in adjacent buildings within 90 feet of the property line. Vibration limits are set on the devices so that if value is exceeded, a notification immediately goes out to the team and the condition is investigated.

After a close evaluation of University needs, it was determined that this building will be designed and used for undergraduate housing. Several existing undergraduate residential buildings need comprehensive upgrades to building systems and infrastructure that will require those buildings to be offline for a year at a time. The renovation of 611 W. 112th Street will provide necessary swing space to allow for the necessary system upgrades at these other buildings.

The building will continue to be used as undergraduate housing and support the modernization of other undergraduate residence halls and brownstones (38 in total) for the foreseeable future.

This project helps to address affordable housing by providing housing for our students, thereby reducing demand within the local housing market, consistent with the University’s practice.

We expect the experience for neighbors of this building to mirror that of neighbors of undergraduate residences located on 113th, 114th, and 115th Streets between Broadway and Riverside Drive, which is to say noise concerns are few and far between. This is in part due to the rules of conduct that are clearly communicated to students and subject to disciplinary actions, and also in part to buildings have central air conditioning which leads to less open windows. The outdoor space would have set hours similar to the outdoor space at Schapiro Hall on 115th Street and would follow New York City regulations on amplified sound and noise.

Ongoing Communications

The project team will prepare and provide periodic construction updates to keep residents apprised of progress at the building. Click here to register to receive construction updates.