The University’s Manhattanville campus plan received its final public approval last month when New York State’s Public Authorities Control Board approved the general project plan for the 17-acre expansion.

The unanimous vote, by the five-member PACB representing the governor, State Senate and Assembly, is the last step in the public review process for the University’s longterm expansion plan. It affirms the decision late last year by New York State’s economic development agency, the Empire State Development Corp., to support Columbia’s proposal to transform the former industrial blocks primarily between Broadway and 12th Avenue into a mixed-use academic campus that would include public open space and extensive street-level commercial, civic and cultural activity.

The state action follows previous approvals in the city’s Urban Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP. That process governing the needed rezoning of the onetime industrial area successfully concluded with a 35-5 vote by the New York City Council in December 2007.

In a statement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that the state board’s decision was “the culmination of a long-standing collaboration among Columbia, city and state agencies, local elected officials and the local community [that] will enable a critically important job creating economic development initiative to move forward.”

Similarly, Gov. David A. Paterson (CC’77) pointed out that while the national recession has led to a decline in New York development, Columbia’s project will be among the largest to move forward in 2009. “The expansion of one of New York’s oldest education institutions will enhance the vitality of both the University and its neighboring community, while meeting the long-term needs of its residents,” he said. “I am delighted that the work and cooperation of our partners at Columbia, the Mayor’s Office, and Empire State Development, as well as local elected officials and members of the community will help ensure that Columbia maintains its role as one of the foremost educational and cultural institutions in the world and a major New York employer.”

The state action also comes on the heels of a community benefits agreement the University reached with the West Harlem Local Development Corp., a pact that calls for Columbia to invest $76 million in programs to be determined by the LDC, $20 million of in-kind benefits and services, an investment in affordable housing, as well as the University’s advice and guidance in supporting community priorities in the years ahead.

“We are thankful for the strong support of our elected federal, state and city officials,” said Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger. “This project has successfully moved through the rigorous public review processes because of a shared understanding that thriving universities are essential to maintaining New York as a place that provides good jobs for a diversity of people, and that attracts the most creative minds addressing society’s urgent challenges.”

In recent months, the University began preliminary work to relocate utility lines, such as sewer pipes and water mains underneath Broadway—an essential step in the pre-construction process.

Two commercial property owners in the project area have challenged the ESDC’s approval process in civil court, but Columbia is not a party to that case.

“On Columbia’s new campus, we will make discoveries to cure disease, teach the next generation of leaders and create jobs for the people of our city and community,” Bollinger said. “We are excited to move forward.”