The cost per square foot came to $350.00
This is really high.
According to RSMEANS (construction estimate date company) the average cost for new educational facilities is $130.00 - $227.00 per square foot.
$227.00 is for Manhattan. There is no reason why the school couldn’t have been built for just under $200.00 per s.f.
We also have to factor in that there was a Project Labor Agreement (all labor had to be by Union companies), which always keeps the cost of the project high.
Here are some additional costs:
1) The site that the school is built on involved 15 years of litigation with historic preservationists and Donald Trump. Trump wanted to build the world's tallest building there. The wrangling added $9 million to the cost of the school.
2) After existing buildings were demolished at the site, contaminated soil, a methane gas field, and an earthquake fault were discovered. A gas mitigation system cost $17 million.
Here’s the real unbelievable one:
15 million was spent preserving historic features of some of the existing buildings, and incorporating them into the new school. This includes a wall of the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub and turning the Paul Williams-designed coffee shop into a faculty lounge.
Bottom line, when you mix Democrats with Unions there is no amount of taxpayer money they ever feel is not theirs to do as they wish. Just think about the pensions that all the teachers will get after they retire in their late 50’s, and who pays them.
Democrats + Unions = Greece
