CUNY Signs LOI to Purchase Metropolitan College Lower Manhattan Campus

Metropolitan College is close to selling its Lower Manhattan campus to the City University of New York (CUNY). Located at 40 Rector Street, which has an alternate address of 60 West Street, the college acquired the 110,000-square-foot space in December 2014 for roughly $44.578 million according to city records. The campus includes ground level space and entire floors 6 through 8 within the 19-story building located on the southeast corner of West Street. According to reported details from an August regulatory filing, CUNY signed a letter of intent to purchase the campus for $40 million, but negotiations on the purchase are ongoing and the “transaction would also require approval from Metropolitan College’s bondholders and accreditor, among others” according to the press. The purchase by the not-for-profit was financed by the U.S. Bank National Association in the amount of $49.4 million in the form of issued bonds through Build NYC Resource Corp., a local development corporation created pursuant to the Not-For-Profit Corporation of the State of New York. A Building Loan in the amount of $14.784 million and an Indirect Loan in the amount of $3.256 million were also provided for a total of $67.44 million in financing per city records. A total of 480 students were enrolled during the 2023-2024 academic year, however the need to pay off creditors in the wake of the pandemic prompted the college to introduce the sale offering in October 2024, reportedly as part of a “’forbearance agreement’ with bondholders to skip its November 2024 debt payment.”

Source:    https://commercialobserver.com/2025/08/metropolitan-college-sells-lower-manhattan-campus-cuny/