Fried Frank acted as counsel to Cornell University in connection with the ground lease, financing and development of a new hotel at the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan. Cornell and its partner Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners (AJ Capital Partners) are developing a ground-up hotel known as Graduate Roosevelt Island. Slated to open in spring 2020, Graduate Roosevelt Island will be an 18-story, 224-key hotel with panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline. Fried Frank has advised Cornell University in the development of its Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island since the project’s inception, and the hotel development represents the completion of the first phase of the campus, which also includes the Bloomberg Center, the Tata Innovation Center, the House at Cornell Tech and the Verizon Executive Education Center.

Cornell Tech is a revolutionary model for graduate education that fuses technology with business and creative thinking. AJ Capital Partners is a dynamic organization of counter-culture hospitality and real estate investors who acquire, develop and design transformative real estate in multi-dimensional markets and prestigious resort destinations.

The Fried Frank team included real estate partner Tal Golomb, real estate special counsel Ryan Bathie, and real estate associates Michael Hofer, David Firestone, Michael Turo and Gilmar Colonia.