Higher Education

Gattuso Development Partners and Vigilant Holdings are constructing a $500 million life sciences center in Philadelphia to fuel innovation. Sited in the University City district on the campus of Drexel University, the 519,647-rsf facility will offer wet and dry laboratories for the creation of novel therapeutics and medical technologies, accompanied by a mix of commercial, academic, and office spaces for biotechnology tenants, faculty, and students.

The University of Miami is planning to construct a residential complex for upper-class students on the Coral Gables campus. Designed by Arquitectonica, the 573,804-sf facility will comprise two towers offering a majority of single-occupancy rooms. The first building will rise nine stories high and provide more than 730 beds throughout 222 units, and the second ten-floor structure will house over 720 beds across 207 units. 

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has rejected the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding for indirect costs. In January of 2026, a three-judge panel ruled unanimously that prior attempts to cap reimbursement rates for overhead expenses at 15 percent of any given grant for universities and institutions engaged in medical and scientific research were unlawful.

The University of Georgia is constructing an education and research facility in Athens as the primary teaching hub for its School of Medicine. Designed by Flad Architects, the 93,000-sf building will dedicate nearly 25,000 sf to open wet labs for biomedical discovery and will feature active-learning classrooms for large and small groups, simulation suites with clinical skills labs, gross anatomy labs, and standardized patient rooms.

The University of Oregon is constructing the second phase of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact in Eugene. Designed by ZGF Architects, Building 2 will double capacity for the research and development of biomedical technologies and expand space for academic programs, engineering, and applied science.

The University of New South Wales Sydney opened the Health Translation Hub in November of 2025 in Australia. Developed by Plenary Group, the AUD 600 million (USD 396.8 million) facility drives impactful medical discoveries to revolutionize patient care. Students at the clinical school benefit from an interdisciplinary ecosystem that directly connects future health professionals, researchers, and educators with industry partners and clinicians to foster knowledge exchange and immersive learning.

Michigan State University is planning to construct the Engineering and Digital Innovation (EDI) Center in East Lansing. Supporting increased enrollment for undergraduate and postgraduate cohorts, the $340 million facility will house the colleges of engineering, natural science, business, social science, arts and letters, and communication arts and sciences.

The University of Connecticut is constructing a new home for the Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing in Storrs. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross and Amenta Emma Architects, the 90,000-gsf building will offer a unified environment to enhance healthcare education and catalyze interdisciplinary research. The $100 million project will support increased enrollment and enable the delivery of innovative pedagogies to drive student success.

Arizona State University is planning to construct an innovation and education hub that will act as the headquarters for ASU Health in Phoenix. Designed by CO Architects and DFDG Architecture to drive multidisciplinary discovery, the 200,000-sf facility will house the School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering and the School of Technology for Public Health.

The University of North Texas at Dallas celebrated the opening of a $100 million STEM facility in December of 2025 that will expand pathways into healthcare and science for current and future students. Addressing statewide practitioner shortages, the 120,220-sf building is a learning destination for fields such as nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, and optometry, as well as housing programs in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and neuroscience. 

The University of Virginia is constructing the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute for Biotechnology in Charlottesville to catalyze breakthroughs in the fields of cellular therapy, gene therapy, nanotechnology, and drug delivery. Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, the flexible building will provide 355,809 sf of space for leading-edge laboratories, core facilities, advanced manufacturing suites, and clinical environments.

Northern Kentucky University is expanding and renovating the Dorothy Westerman Herrmann Science Center in Highland Heights. Designed by Omni Architects and Flad Architects, the $86 million facility will enhance the delivery of STEM+Health programs, accommodate growing enrollment, and drive regional workforce development. The addition of an 85,400-sf wing will consolidate several academic departments under one roof, including Biological Sciences, Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Physics, Geology & Engineering Technology.

The University of California, Berkeley broke ground in November of 2025 on the Bakar Labs for Energy + Materials to establish beacon for excellence in entrepreneurship. The 146,000-sf facility will provide world-class wet laboratories and collaboration space for research initiatives and up to 75 early-stage companies. Designed by Gensler to ensure flexibility and adaptability through a reconfigurable framework, the five-story structure will house 3D printing studios, offices, and meeting and conference rooms.

The University of Texas at Austin is constructing the Autry C. Stephens Engineering Discovery Building as a vibrant new home for the departments of Chemical Engineering and Petrol & Geosystems Engineering. Designed by CO Architects and BGK Architects, the $316 million facility will further the Cockrell School of Engineering’s mission to educate future leaders, promote innovation, and foster industry partnerships within the energy sector.

When it was proposed in 2019, repurposing underutilized space at the University of Georgia for an industry partner’s fermentation lab appeared to be a good deal for everyone involved. It was a win for the pharmaceutical company that wanted to contract with the university to help it develop new products and needed a fermentation lab that met, at a minimum, biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) standards. It was a plus for staff at the university’s Bioexpression and Fermentation Facility who would perform the work. It represented an advance for the university that wanted to form new industry relationships and had available space at its Athens, Ga. campus inside the Animal Health Research Center (AHRC). And it was a win for the AHRC, a 75,000-sf biocontainment facility that would host a new industry partner in addition to other laboratories performing BSL-2, animal biosafety level 2 (ABSL-2), biosafety level 3 (BSL-3), animal biosafety level 3 (ABSL-3), and animal biosafety level 3-agricultural (ABSL-3Ag) research work.