New UES Medical School Residential Tower Details Announced

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — More details and images of the planned residential tower being built by Well Cornell Medicine on the site of a longtime church were announced by the medical school on Tuesday, along with a planned opening date of 2025.

The building — first announced nearly two years ago — will house 272 students within a 16-story, 173,000-square-foot building to be built on the site of the Church of the Epiphany, an Episcopal church built in 1939.

Weill Cornell says the total cost for the project is expected to reach $260 million and will be "one of the best student residences anywhere in this country," said school Dean, Robert A. Harrington.

“Importantly, this new residence will both support our students’ academic life here and instill a lifelong emphasis on taking care of their overall wellness," Harrington said.

Just four blocks from Weill Cornell Medicine's campus, the 272 rooms — housing for about a fifth of the school's 1,300 students, according to a 2022 Community Board 8 presentation — will mostly consist of studios along with a few one-bedroom units and 51 two-bedroom apartments.

“For more than a century, Weill Cornell Medicine has prided itself on producing exemplary doctors and researchers who have transformed our understanding and practice of medicine,” said Cornell President Martha Pollack. “This new residence will further enrich the experience of our students, providing them with the best possible living and learning environments as they pursue their educations at Weill Cornell Medicine.”

Aside from beds for the exhausted medical school students, the building will also feature communal study spaces, a rooftop lounge and terrace, meeting rooms and exercise spaces, including a gym and a yoga studio.

Weill Cornell says the finished building should be very eco-friendly and will feature all-electric heating and cooling via heat pumps. Upon completion, the school will seek LEED Gold certification, the announcement states.

Donors and longtime alum helped to contribute $122 million towards the building's development, the school said, and is just part of their efforts to reform the medical student experience.

Other examples cited in the announcement include a 2019 expansion of their scholarship program to eliminate educational debt for students who relieve financial aid, and the Feil Family Student Center, a 16,200-square-foot campus space that also opened in 2019 and expanded facilities for classes, meetings, quiet study and informal gatherings.

No zoning change is required for the construction, but residents had previously voiced concerns about its "solid cube" design and the impact the construction could have on traffic.

The new residence hall joins at least six other medical towers currently in planning or under construction on the Upper East Side.

The Hospital for Special Surgery is working on two expansions on First Avenue and over the FDR Drive, Lenox Hill Hospital is plotting a 436-foot-tall tower on Lexington Avenue and a 16-story medical office building on Third Avenue, Memorial Sloan Kettering is aiming to finally build a long-delayed and super-tall medical pavilion and the approved New York Blood Center is still awaiting the first shovel in the ground.