In the late 1990s, the University made a commitment to expand undergraduate student enrollment and provide all undergraduates with guaranteed University housing within a few blocks of the main campus. A 400-bed residence hall with student amenities was needed and there were no suitably-located sites. Dense neighborhood residential development and the lack of swing space made demolition and redevelopment of existing University-occupied sites also impossible. Under Mr. Wiener’s leadership, the Department responded by launching an effort to assemble four under-developed properties at Broadway and 113th St., three of which were not Columbia owned and required ambitious relocation efforts. They included: a sliver of Columbia land; a commercial parking garage owned by New York City that had been bought as a site for a new public library, a busy 3-story branch bank owned by Chase Manhattan, and a historic townhouse owned by a fraternity organization.

Mr. Wiener was responsible for (a) studies of alternative residence hall sites and relocation sites for the branch bank; (b) negotiations with Chase to “swap” the bank property with a new building to be constructed on Columbia-owned property 5 blocks south; (c) negotiation for relocation and acquisition of the fraternity; and (d) joint planning with the NY Public Library to incorporate its new branch into the first two floors and cellar of the mixed-use building. The lead architect was Robert A.M. Stern, who designed a contextual mixed-use building that satisfied both users. Acquisition of the garage required separate real estate negotiations with the City and a full Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) that involved environmental review. Height and setback zoning variances were obtained to allow the building to accommodate all of the program elements, a process Mr. Wiener also coordinated.  The fraternity building was partially restored and incorporated into the 114th St. side of the new building in response to historic preservation concerns.  Finally, Mr. Wiener managed creation of a condominium to allocate ownership of the library spaces to New York City and the residence hall and retail parts to Columbia.

The Broadway Residence Hall building was ready for 374 students by Fall 2000, with most of the student rooms configured for single occupancy by upper-classmen. It immediately became one of the sought after among the of the University’s 15 residence halls and allowed undergraduate student enrollment to be increased at both Columbia College and Columbia School of Engineering. Interior fit-out of the branch library was completed by the New York Public Library in 2001. The new facility was five times the size of a temporary one-story space that Columbia had provided previously, allowing for a huge increase in visitors and circulation. Outfitted with numerous computer terminals, lounge-style seating, a community meeting room and other amenities, it is one of the best-equipped branch libraries in upper Manhattan. A popular video store was installed in the building’s 2,000 square foot retail space.