Pace University announced on March 25 that One Pace Plaza East will reopen in fall 2026 following extensive renovations. The building will offer new facilities for the Sands College of Performing Arts and updated humanities instructional spaces, welcoming students back to its classrooms, rehearsal spaces, and studios in Lower Manhattan.
The reopening coincides with Pace University’s 120th anniversary and marks a return to the site where the institution began. In 1906, Homer St. Clair Pace started the university with a class in the New York Tribune Building on this same location, aiming to prepare students for emerging professions such as accounting while also providing them with broader intellectual skills.
Since its founding, Pace has grown into a comprehensive university serving students across campuses in Lower Manhattan, Pleasantville, and White Plains. The institution maintains its focus on combining intellectual inquiry with real-world experience—a philosophy described as “education as agency.” This approach aims to prepare students not only for current careers but also to shape future professions and communities.
Throughout its history, Pace has expanded access to professional education by offering courses through YMCA programs nationwide and correspondence classes for those unable to attend in person. From early on, women studied alongside men at Pace Institute during periods when educational opportunities were limited elsewhere. The university’s faculty have included practitioners from various fields who bring practical experience into their teaching roles.
Experiential learning remains central at Pace today through research projects, internships across New York City, community engagement initiatives, and partnerships with industry groups. The university has been recognized for civic engagement efforts such as being a founding member of Project Pericles and earning inclusion on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
Looking ahead, Pace is advancing an academic plan focused on health sciences; civic leadership; innovative technology; business; humanities; and performing arts—areas where it sees opportunity for impact amid changing demands in higher education.
