The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management’s Executive Education Center will become the tenant in a six-story office/classroom building to rise at 209-215 Dryden Road in Collegetown.

Johnson’s Executive Education Center has outgrown its current space in Sage Hall. The privately financed and managed Collegetown building will include classrooms, meeting rooms, staff and faculty offices, and a large atrium. The project will generate additional property tax revenue.

Kathryn Wolf of Ithaca’s Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects and Alan Chimacoff of ikon.5 architects of Princeton, New Jersey, presented sketches of the proposed building to the City of Ithaca’s Planning Board June 23. If approved, construction will begin in the fall.

“We’re thrilled, at Johnson, to be part of the revitalization and development of Collegetown,” said Dean Soumitra Dutta. “The new building will be a state-of-the-art, modern space for our faculty, students, staff and alumni and allow us to grow our MBA and Executive MBA programs, as well as other graduate business programs. We are looking forward to being good stewards in the community and contributing to the local economy.”

By locating more than 200 staff and 350 students in the area, the new building helps fulfill the City of Ithaca’s 2009 Collegetown Urban Plan, which calls for the university to help “create a 365-day economy in Collegetown” to benefit retailers throughout the year.

“The new influx of Cornell staff, faculty and students into Collegetown will contribute to the neighborhood’s vitality and have a positive impact on ongoing economic development,” said Vice President Mary Opperman. “Johnson’s tenancy on Dryden Road is a great example of the collaboration to which we are committed as relates to Collegetown.”