Does cutting your rent by 75 percent sound good? HIWay 125 hopes it does to Internet and technology companies currently located in lower Manhattan's Silicon Alley.
The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) in collaboration with Columbia and other partners, hopes to develop a desirable area where technology companies can locate their offices at a reasonable price while benefiting the surrounding community.
Work began in April on the project, known as Harlem Internet Highway 125 Technology District. HIWay 125 stretches along the 125th Street corridor from Second to 12th Avenues, making it immediately adjacent to the north end of Columbia's campus.
An influx of technology companies helped revitalize the once economically struggling lower Manhattan, and UMEZ President and CEO Terry Lane hopes that HIWay 125 will do the same for Harlem.
"Technology has been the engine for rebuilding [lower Manhattan]," making it one of the "most valuable areas in the city," Lane said.
Although the Empowerment Zone has undertaken numerous projects such as HIWay 125 in hopes of benefiting the community, it has not been without criticism from some neighborhood residents who question what they see as the gentrification of Morningside Heights and Harlem.
Tom DeMott, a member of the West Harlem Coalition and a longtime area resident, questioned the role of the Empowerment Zone in the community. He said he wonders whether new development in upper Manhattan will actually benefit those people "who stuck it out in Harlem" or if it is primarily directed at a new wave of people currently relocating to the area.
Despite possible criticism, Columbia is enthusiastic about the project.
The University's primary role in the HIWay 125 project is to attract businesses to this endeavor. According to Richard Schaffer, director of Columbia's Empowerment Zone monitoring assistance project (EZMAP) and a visiting professor of urban planning in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, many companies are interested in leasing space near campus, but have been unable to find an affordable or workable venue. Close proximity is especially desired by businesses with ties to Columbia faculty and students. Last year, the University was ranked number one among all United States research universities in licensing income, with direct links to many industrial companies.
EZMAP, financially supported in part by Columbia, provides technical assistance in the areas of research, strategic planning, program design, evaluation, and the development of external linkages and public-private partnerships to the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation.
In addition to Columbia, institutions associated with HIWay 125 include academic partner City College of New York; technology partners Con Ed, AT&T, and Applied Theory; and financial partners Davis Creek Capital and the New York City Investment Fund. Thus far, the city, state, and federal governments have funded a combined $250 million.
"Instrumental" is how Lane termed Columbia's role in formatting the structure for the partnership, adding that the University has been "significant in recruitment and providing technical assistance." The project would not be as strong without Columbia's support. "I'm excited because this has been endorsed at the highest level of the Administration," he said.
However, some members of the community question Columbia's intentions in upper Manhattan. Nellie Bailey, executive director of the Harlem Tenant Council, feels that what she calls Columbia's adversarial relationship with Harlem will only be agitated by further expansion beyond the University's "natural boundary" with the neighborhood.
HIWay 125's main competition comes from lower Manhattan, where most technology firms are currently located. That is an obstacle, however, that Lane said can easily be overcome by the district's ability to offer "an abundance of space and low rents combined with excellent transportation and an ethnically diverse and young population." Businesses can rent space for $15-20 per square foot in HIWay 125 compared to $55-75 in lower Manhattan.
A unique aspect of HIWay 125 is the "incubator" to be located in the eight-story, 8,000 square foot Harlem Office of Technology (HOT) Building at 3280 Broadway and 129th Street. The incubator's purpose is to furnish eight to 10 companies at a time with the essential tools they need to survive, such as fiber optics, high speed copper wire, turnkey maximum bandwidth, inexpensive Internet connectivity, state-of-the-art voice, video, and data transmission, as well as advanced telecommunications and data security. Other services provided to businesses located there will include consulting assistance with business plans, marketing, personnel, accounting, and legal issues. Amenities such as a receptionist, meeting room space, copy room, fax machines, LAN support, kitchen, lounge, and security access will also be present.
The idea is to give emerging companies a nurturing environment with low overhead costs for 18 months, at which point they should be able to raise enough capital to be self sufficient, according to Lane.
Lane said businesses considering relocating to HIWay 125 include BET.com, the online arm of the cable network, as well as RCN Aerolith, SCORE, Harlem Live, and Silicon Alley Station.
One potential lessee, Urban Box Office, was forced to pull out from the project due to its inability to raise adequate capital, according to Lane, who said he was "saddened by the turn of events." Lane said he feels that the decrease in capital that investors have been willing to front for Internet companies "makes it more challenging, but we're not inhibited, because technology is here to stay." He added that over 150,000 jobs have been created in the sector in the last year alone.
HIWay 125 has already received awards from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Commerce for the "novelty and implementation of a sustainable economic development project," Lane said.
Ultimately, Lane said he hopes the assets HIWay 125 has to offer will lure investment to the area, which already consists of 900 for-profit and nonprofit establishments within its boundaries.
"I'm happy to have Columbia as a great neighbor and partner," Lane said.