St. John’s University Awarded $3M HECap Grant to Support New Basketball Practice Facility

St. John’s University has been awarded a $3 million New York State Higher Education Capital Matching Grant (HECap) that will be used to help finance the construction of a new state-of-the-art basketball practice facility adjacent to Gate 4 (175th Street and Union Turnpike) on the Queens, NY, campus. The new facility will serve the everyday needs of the Red Storm’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball programs. The project will be developed in conjunction with a renovation of Taffner Field House to create a best-in-class campus recreation center for the University community.

“The Board of Trustees and I are committed to securing the resources needed to provide our Men’s and Women’s Basketball players, coaches, administrators, and staff with exceptional spaces for practice, conditioning, learning, and preparation so that they can compete at the highest level,” said Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., St. John’s University President. “This new practice facility will help to accomplish that goal.” 

He added, “St. John’s is grateful for the external support of DASNY (Dormitory Authority of the State of New York), and in particular to New York State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Chair of the Committee on Higher Education, a HECap Board member, and longtime friend of St. John’s. I commend the internal team that worked to advance this application process.”

As envisioned, the new 50,000-square-foot basketball practice facility will provide high-quality operations and training space to attract top talent to St. John’s and rival the facilities of its BIG EAST Conference peers. In addition, the new facility will offer necessary resources for Red Storm student-athletes to maximize their potential on and off the court and enhance their experience at St. John’s. The Red Storm’s new basketball practice facility will feature courts, locker rooms, training and strength areas, office and film rooms, interactive recruiting spaces, and more.

St. John’s has contracted Gensler, a global architecture, design, and planning firm, to immediately begin the design phase of the new basketball practice facility and the campus recreation center. The basketball practice facility is expected to be ready by Spring 2027, while the campus recreation center is scheduled to open in Fall 2028.

In the latest round of HECap funding, $38 million in capital project grants was awarded; St. John’s was one of just 33 private, nonprofit colleges and universities across New York to succeed in the competitive grant program. The $3 million grant is the maximum award eligible in this round of HECap funding and marks the fifth time the University has successfully earned a HECap grant.

The HECap program, created in 2005, seeks to support private colleges, help create construction jobs, and drive economic activity to communities that are home to private colleges. Schools that receive HECap grants are required to invest three dollars in institutional funds for every one dollar received in state funds.

The funds were awarded at the June 26 meeting of the HECap Board, pursuant to a competitive application process. The three-member HECap Board includes one member chosen by the Speaker of the Assembly, one member selected by the Temporary President of the Senate, and a third member chosen by the governor. 

Since HECap’s inception in 2005, the State of New York has awarded $368.1 million in funding to 307 projects at colleges and universities across the state. These awards have resulted in a total of $1.10 billion of investments since the beginning of the program.