For a building that has not been occupied in more than 40 years, 17 West 60th Street has been at the center of some buzzy real estate news in New York. It was originally going to be razed to make way for a new project from Extell, which signed a contract to buy the neighboring 1855 Broadway from New York Institute of Technology (NYIT); according to I Love the Upper West Side, this would have given Extell a total of 151,000 square feet of development rights.
However, after NYIT changes its mind and a legal battle ensued, Extell sold a 99-year ground lease for 75,000 square feet on 17 West 60th Street to The Shefa School (“Shefa”) for $49.5 million. Now Extell is working on a smaller tower down the street at 1841 Broadway, and Shefa is expanding and converting its new building to a larger, state-of-the-art campus.
Shefa takes its name from the Hebrew word for “abundance” and caters to Jewish children in grades 1-8 with language-based learning disabilities. In the eight years since it was founded in 2014, Shefa has grown from 24 students in the first year to over 200 students. The school is currently located at 40 East 29th Street in NoMad, and the move takes it to a family-friendly section of the Upper West Side near Central Park and Columbus Circle. It also stands to triple the size of the old school and expand capacity to 350 students.
In this article:
Renderings of The Shefa School's new campus (Shefa School)
Permits on file call for a 40-foot addition to the existing building that will bring it from 12 to 16 stories high; an interior renovation is also underway. Upon completion, features will include classrooms that meet the needs of lower and middle school students as well as a spacious lobby, a large gym, a second-story atrium, a cafeteria, a beit midrash for study and prayer, gathering spaces for programming and celebrations, and an outdoor play roof. It also aims to establish The Shefa Center, a teaching lab for Jewish special educators and leaders.
While there was technically no ground to break on the new building, a ceremony nevertheless took place as construction commenced in February 2022. Interior work is expected to begin later this fall, and completion is estimated for 2024.
Classroom
Hallways
A welcoming lobby
Second-story atrium
Cafeteria
Beit midrash
Play roof
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