Gilbane/LiRo Joint Venture to Serve as Construction Managers for SUNY New School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

ALBANY, N.Y. — State University of New York and the State University Construction Fund have selected Gilbane Building Company, in a joint venture with The LiRo Group, to provide construction management services for the New School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences project at the University at Buffalo.

Designed by HOK, the $375-million medical school is designed to connect approximately 2,000 students, faculty, biomedical researchers and clinicians with classrooms, bedside patient care and lab environments. The seven-story medical school will be built over the NFTA Allen/Medical Campus Station, which will be incorporated into the ground floor of the SMBS. The project is scheduled to break ground later this year with an anticipated completion in 2016. The SMBS is targeting LEED-Gold certification. This project is a NY-SUNY 2020 Challenge Grant project and was approved by Governor Cuomo and Chancellor Zimpher in December 2011.

“Building a new medical school is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our university and region, and a critical step in evolving the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus into an academic health center on par with those of Pittsburgh and Cleveland,” said Michael E. Cain, vice president for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Commenting on the project, John LaRow, Gilbane vice president and manager of the company's upstate New York business unit, said, “It's an honor to have been selected to work with the University at Buffalo on this exciting project, which offers tremendous potential and benefit for the entire region. The Gilbane/LiRo will be drawing on our joint construction and transportation expertise to ensure not only that the SMBS meets the highest quality and sustainability standards, but also that the vital Metro Rail operations will be unaffected during construction.”