OUR TEAM

The New York City Educational Construction Fund (ECF)

was created by the New York State Legislature in 1967 and since that time has constructed projects that added over 18,000 school seats, 4,500 units of housing and 1.2 million square feet of office space in New York City.  The Fund builds combined-occupancy structures on City-owned land conveyed to the Fund by the City of New York. ECF uses ground rents, lease payments and/or tax equivalency payments from the non-school portion of projects to finance construction of its school facilities.

 

The World-Wide Group

and its affiliates are privately held investment companies, based in New York City.  The group has been engaged in real estate development for over half a century.  With a reputation for undertaking complex urban development opportunities, World-Wide has developed over $3 billion worth of new luxury residential properties in New York City, including: 255 East 74th Street, Milan, 50 Murray Street, 53 Park Place, 88 Greenwich Street, 71 Broadway, The Steiner Building in Chelsea and The Reade Street Condominiums in Tribeca.  Most recently, The World Wide Group partnered with ECF and the New York City School Construction Authority in redeveloping a former nurses’ residence on 63rd Street as the interim location for PS 59. This gut renovation, New York City’s first green school building, was accomplished in record time and under budget.  When the new PS 59 is completed at the 250 East 57th Street complex, the interim facility will be used by the Department of Education for much needed additional school seats on the Upper East Side.

 

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)

is one of the leading architecture, urban planning, interior design, and engineering firms in the world, with a 75-year reputation for design excellence and a portfolio that includes some of the most important architectural accomplishments of the 20th and 21st centuries.  Since its inception, SOM has been a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas, many of which have had a palpable and lasting impact on the design profession and the physical environment.  The firm’s longstanding leadership in design and building technology has been honored with more than 1,400 awards for quality, innovation, and management.  The American Institute of Architects has twice recognized SOM with its highest honor, the Architecture Firm Award—in 1962 and again in 1996.  The firm maintains offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai, and Brussels.