New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) Signs 20-Year Lease

NYSID president Dr. Christopher J. Cyphers announced today that the college has signed a 20-year lease for two contiguous, 20,000 square foot floors at 401 Park Avenue South (at East 28th Street), to house NYSID’s new graduate center opening in late 2010.

The lease deal, brokered by Neil Lipinski, Principal/Senior Managing Director at Cassidy Turley, formerly Colliers ABR, along with his associates, Tim Kucha, Director, and David Lebenstein, Senior Managing Director in the Not-for-Profit practice, had been nearly six months in the making, and is the college’s first real estate acquisition in thirteen years. The expansion of the Upper East Side institution’s campus is part of the college’s five-year strategic plan, which President Cyphers crafted with faculty, trustees, and senior administrators soon after taking office in August 2008.

NYSID will occupy the second and third floors of 401 Park Avenue South, with construction occurring in two phases; the first phase is slated for completion in time for the start of the 2010-11 academic year. The second phase is scheduled to begin in February 2011.

“Our new Graduate Center at 401 Park Avenue South marks an important moment in the college’s nearly 100-year history,” said President Cyphers. “With the support and commitment of our Board of Trustees, NYSID takes a bold and decisive step to move this great institution to the next level of excellence. The School’s new graduate center speaks to our aspirations to build upon previous successes toward becoming a national leader in design education.”

NYSID’s graduate center will house dedicated studio space for 168 MFA Interior Design students, seminar rooms, a lecture hall, exhibition space, computer labs, a lighting lab, materials library, model shop, a student lounge, and faculty workspaces.

The college has the goal of achieving a LEED CI rating of Gold. “As an institution that espouses the principles and practice of sustainable design; most notably introducing a master’s program in Sustainable Interior Environments in fall 2010,” remarked President Cyphers, “pursuing LEED certification is a top priority in the design, fit-out, and operations of our new graduate center.”

For more information contact Brent Peterson/NYSID bpeterson@nysid or Harriet Weintraub/HWPR hweintraub@hwpr.com or Stuart Cohen scohen@hwpr.com

About NYSID
Founded in 1916, the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) is New York’s only private, not-for-profit college devoted exclusively to interior design education and related disciplines. NYSID’s guiding principle is that the interior environment is a fundamental element of human welfare, and the college is committed to actively improving, through design, the quality of life for all segments of humanity. This ideal is put into practice by a dedicated faculty of well-known designers, architects, art historians, and authorities in the field who guide a diverse student body of over 750 full- and part-time students.

NYSID offers certificate, undergraduate and graduate programs in the field of interior design, design history and theory, and sustainable design. The college is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and NYSID’s BFA is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).