The New York City Council has approved the SPARCS Kips Bay and Innovation East developments in Manhattan. The $1.6 billion scheme consists of a life sciences campus developed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC/EDC) in collaboration with the City University of New York.Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill led the masterplan for the schemes design, with constitutes 2.5. million square feet of facilities. The project is described by NYC/EDC as a first-of-its-kind job and education center which will overhaul the Hunter College Brookdale campus.As we reported back in 2022, the scheme aims to break ground next year, with construction completed by 2031.