Healthcare facilities discussed by Professional Women in Construction. (Transcripts).

"The bioscience sector can be a new engine of economic development for Lower Manhattan and across the five boroughs. New York City has the ability to rival Boston and Los Angeles," said Maria Gotsch, senior vice president of the New York City Investment Fund, who spoke at the "Healthcare Facilities Developers Forum," a breakfast seminar presented by Professional Women in Construction (PWC) on April 17 at The Yale Club in New York City.

In addition to Gotsch, the other panelists were: Rick Langfelder, senior vice president of finance & capital/ chief financial officer with the NYC Health & Hospitals Corporation; George Mejias, director design & construction, and Andrew Thompson, chief architect, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and Vicki Match Suna, associate dean for facilities planning, NYU Medical Center. Real estate journalist Lois Weiss of the New York Post reprised her role as moderator for the program, part of an ongoing PWC series.

"We've always had the talent in New York City, now we're becoming more adept at locating the resources to support the new construction, expansions and renovations that will boost the city's economy and help restore downtown Manhattan," said PWC president Lenore Janis following the program.

Gotsch outlined a five-year plan to develop a bioscience industry cluster in New York City that would begin with establishment of a public-private partnership to develop approximately 300,000 SF of space in Lower Manhattan for bioscience companies.

The long-term goal would be to bring online a total of one million square feet of office space over the next several years for the bioscience industry. Weiss advised the audience that the Fund would be interested in "retrofitting a current building."

Langfelder announced a seven-year, $1.1 billion capital plan to launch major modernization programs at various facilities throughout the five boroughs. The HHC has been in partnership with the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) since 1997, receives funding from the City Council, and floats its own bonds.

A new 360,000-SF building was added to Queens Hospital last fall. Combined budgets of $575 million are funding a 240,000 square foot project at Kings County Hospital Center, which completed Phase 1 of its renovation last fall, and work at Bellevue Hospital Center, Jacobi Medical Center, and Coney Island Hospital Center.

Mejias invited subcontractors to participate in MSK's voluntary program for minority- and woman-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs), and encouraged the audience to contact HRH Construction, Turner Construction, JGN Construction, JSK Construction and James G. Kennedy & Co.

From a master plan placing NYU Medical Center in a parklike setting that was designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill in 1949 and modeled after the United Nations, the First Avenue Biomedical Corridor now stretches from 23rd to 34th Street, including the Hunter School of Allied Health. "The challenge is to identify new sites for development," said Match Suna.