Higher Education

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics has new Learning Laboratories for complex systems. Designed by Cambridge Seven Associates, the renovated and expanded 50,000-sf historic Daniel Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (Building 33) now provides highly flexible and open space for student/faculty team work on projects of varying size and complexity. The 6,000-sf three-story Hangar supports work on unusually large-sized aerospace assignments and independent student projects. William A.

The University of California, Merced,  will occupy a newly-completed 68,000, five-story office building "University Square" in Bakersfield. The Kern County Superintendent of Schools is also a tenant. Classrooms occupy the first two floors, with the upper floors housing support offices. An adjacent parking structure is also part of the project designed by Ware Malcomb of Irvine, Calif. The developer is The Allen Group. The general contractor was S.C. Anderson Inc. of Bakersfield.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is planning several new academic facilities. The Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer Information and Intelligence Sciences will unite computer science and electrical engineering programs in a 447,000-sf building scheduled for completion in 2004. The Dreyfus Building, housing the chemistry department, will be gutted and renovated by 2003. Student housing for about 1,000 students will be provided in two new dorms. The 130,000-sf Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center is scheduled to open in 2002.

 The University of North Carolina-Charlotte has selected Perkins & Will to design a $23.1 million, 70,000-sf graduate research complex at the new Charlotte Institute for Technology Innovation; construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2002. A $26.1 million, 103,000-sf general classroom facility, designed by LS3P, will also commence construction at the same time.

Strayer University has plans to expand and relocate its 1,200-student Arlington campus to a planned three-story building located on top of the Court House Metro station. The university will occupy the top two floors (30,000 sf) of the 54,000-sf building. The project, which is set to open in fall of 2002, is under development by the Arlington-based Jenco Group. Construction is expected to get under way in fall 2001.

The University of North Carolina-Charlotte began construction in July 2001 on a new 184,000-sf, $33.2-million Science and Technology building, part of a seven-building expansion of the 1.2 million-sf campus to a total of 2 million sf. At build-out, enrollment is expected to increase from the current 17,000 students to 25,000 students.

 Tufts University's Jeharis Familly Center for Biomedical and Nutrition Research is under construction at the University's Boston campus.  The $65 million, 175,000-sf structure will house the School of Nutrition and Science Policy as well as biomedical research space. Completion is anticipated in summer of 2002. Architectural Resources Cambridge, Inc., of Cambridge, designed the building. Tufts has a $9 million psychology building under construction at its Medford campus. The 35,000-sf facility is slated for completion in fall 2001.

The University of Texas is renovating and expanding three buildings at its main campus in Austin. The $40 million project will involve Benedict, Mezes, and Batts halls, linking the structures with new construction and modernizing existing classrooms. The new Austin office of 3D/I is in charge of the project, which is slated for completion in approximately two years.

George Mason University Foundation has received approval for construction of a seven-story office building with a six-story, underground parking structure in Virginia Square. The $60 million project will sit on nearly two acres and provide 192,500-sf for office space and 13,275 sf of retail space on the building’s first floor. Above- and below-ground parking will accommodate 671 vehicles. The foundation uses private tenant lease money for acquisition and construction costs, selling or donating the building to the university when the project has been paid for.

ARAMARK today announced that it has completed the acquisition of ServiceMaster Management Services, the facility services business of ServiceMaster.

Swarthmore College is planning a $50 million expansion designed by Einhorn Yaffee Prescott of Boston and built by contractor Barclay White Skanska USA Inc. of Blue Bell, Pa. $40 million will be spent on a total of 140,000 sf in additions and renovations to Science Complex buildings. The project involves construction of a new 70,000-sf facility and renovation of 70,000 sf in two existing buildings. The project began in June 2001 and is slated for completion in June of 2004.  

The University of California-Davis, the world leader in wine science, will be spending $25 million of a $35 million grant to build the new Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. Replacing buildings 50 years old, the institute will house classrooms, food processing and winery buildings. The remaining $10 million will fund a theater complex already under construction, to be named the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. The center is slated for completion in October 2002.

Ground was broken on the new 60,000-sf City Museum at Carnegie Library, a museum dedicated to chronicling the history of the District of Columbia. Designed by architects Devrouax & Purnell of Washington, the museum is scheduled to open in spring of 2003. Also on the project team is New York-based RKK&G Museum and Cultural Facilities Consultants, working with GSM Design of Montreal to create the museum's exhibits.

The University of the Incarnate Word is expanding with a new building providing student housing, conference facilities, a bookstore and a parking garage. The first phase of the 150,000-sf facility is being funded by a $9 million bond issue and is currently under contract.

Northwest Vista College is planning a new 30,000-sf Advanced Technology Center to house the college's Corporate and Community Development Department. The two-story facility will also house academic functions, providing a biotechnology lab, 5 computer labs and 8 classrooms.