New York University’s expansion into Greenwich Village seems likely to accelerate after losing student housing in Lower Manhattan to condominium development.

A local developer is planning to transform a 31-story dormitory in the Financial District into condos, and NYU will have to find 350 students a different place to live this fall. The landlord, Rockrose Development Corporation, decided not to renew the university’s lease.

The building at15 Cliff Street, on a small block near the Fulton Street subway station, will no longer house NYU students after the end of the spring semester. The impending move was first reported yesterday in the Washington Square News.

A spokesperson for NYU, Kelly Franklin, said that the university would not have problems accommodating next year’s students. The university provides housing for between 11,500 and 12,000 students per year.

“We’re looking at various options to offset the loss of the building,” Ms. Franklin said. “As always, any student who is guaranteed housing and wants it, will get it.”

Rockrose owns another one of NYU’s satellite dorms on Water Street in the Financial District. That building houses 1,200 students, and NYU’s lease expires in the end in 2009. Ms. Franklin said that the university would not be sorry to part with the Water Street lease.

“What we’re hearing from students is that they want to be closer to campus,” Ms. Franklin said.

The university would have a hard time finding new space, she added. “It’s New York City, so real estate is liquid. People are always coming to us with real estate that they want us to lease or buy.”

The executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Andrew Berman, said an influx of students from the Lower Manhattan satellite campus into the central Village would accelerate the neighborhood’s transformation. He explained that the university’s evergrowing presence has diminished the quality of the neighborhood.

In September, the New York State Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit that had been filed by community groups, as well as the university’s own Graduate Students Organizing Committee, which challenged NYU’s plans to build a 26-story dorm on East 12th Street. The building, if completed, would be the tallest building in the East Village.

“It’s simply about the fact that we have this one institution that is the largest private university in the world,” Mr. Berman said. “They used to be one of many ingredients of what made the Village the Village, but now they are simply taking over the neighborhood.”

“I think the best thing for NYU to do is to remain within their current footprint,” he continued. “It’s like a stew — if it’s a lot of ingredients it tastes great, but if it’s all potatoes, who wants to eat that?”

Ms. Franklin, of NYU, said the university is a positive part of the neighborhood.

“There’s a tendency to place a lot of blame on us for things that we have nothing to do with,” she said. “We’re aware of the community’s concerns and I think that it’s incredibly important to us that we continue the dialogue for the community and work for a solution.”

Representatives from Rockrose did not return phone calls inquiring about specific plans for their properties.