Section: CAPITAL REGION
                      Page: E5

                     UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION READY TO BEGIN PROJECT

                      Elizabeth Benjamin

                      ALBANY -- The University Heights Association
                      will break ground this week on a 45,000-square-foot
                      combination office-and-classroom building off New
                      Scotland Avenue as part of its ongoing effort to
                      create a joint campus center for four area colleges,
                      officials said.

                      Late last month, the association received approval
                      for the building on Notre Dame Avenue from the city
                      Planning Board. The board also approved plans to
                      rehabilitate and re-use the former Christian Brothers
                      Academy gymnasium.
 

                      Construction of the new building to be used
                      primarily by Albany Law School will begin later
                      this month, association Executive Director Joseph
                      Coffey said.

                      The building and gym overhaul are part of Phase
                      One of the project, which includes constructing a
                      large bookstore and food court in the former New
                      Scotland Avenue Armory.

                      University Heights is a consortium of Albany
                      Medical Center, Albany College of Pharmacy,
                      Albany College of Law and the Sage Colleges.

                      Using a $2 million loan from New York City
                      philanthropist Morris ``Marty'' Silverman as seed
                      money, the association plans a $200 million
                      renovation of the neighborhood bounded by New
                      Scotland and Holland avenues and Academy Road.

Copyright 1999, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y.