The Shorthorn - University seeks final approval from higher education board for College Park

HOME

NEWS

News

University seeks final approval from higher education board for College Park

Written by John Harden, The Shorthorn news editor

Tuesday, 27 July 2010 05:01 PM

The final piece of a puzzle UTA hopes will help define its eastern edge will go before the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Thursday in Austin.

The pending $80 million College Park development, which will be built between Pecan and Center streets, needs approval before construction can begin in August.

College Park conceptual rendering. (Courtesy: University of Texas at Arlington)

The university is expressing confidence the combined residence hall, parking garage, office and retail complex will be approved by the board tomorrow.

John Hall, campus operations vice president, said the university is confident that the park will gain approval because of a thorough presentation that was held before the board’s Strategic Planning Committee.

“The fact that it was approved by the planning committee, there shouldn’t be a problem getting it approved by the board,” Hall said.

The ceremonial groundbreaking for the project is scheduled for Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. and the park has a tentative schedule for completion in August 2012.

The park’s designs and funding was approved by the UT System Board of Regents in early May. The Arlington City Council is also chipping in by splitting the $36 million price tag on the garage potion of the complex.

“It’s time we start putting our money where our mouth is,” Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said.

According to an agreement between the city and UTA made in late January, the parking garage will have at least 1,100 parking spaces available by Aug. 1, 2011, and the remaining 700 spaces by August 2012.

The garage will add relief to downtown Arlington’s lack of parking, said Ken Devero, Downtown Arlington Management Corp. president.

“In almost every downtown area, parking is always a concern,” he said. “These additional spaces will add another level of attractiveness to downtown.”

Incoming freshman Mike Lara said he’s excited he’s attending a school at a time when so many important changes are taking place.

“It just confirms that I made the right choice,” he said. “I think this will be a great addition to the campus and I’m glad I’ll be here long enough to see and benefit from its completion.”

Designed by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., College Park will reflect a modern look in accordance with the university’s master plan and design guidelines.

The development’s residence hall will consist of 242 residence rooms, which includes 484 rentable beds, plus 17 resident assistant rooms. Additional amenities include laundry and vending areas, study rooms and multi-use common space.

In support of the College Town concept, approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space will be on the first floor of the structures. About 3,500 square feet of ground level office space may be utilized for campus offices or for private leasing.

Other features include a 7,500 square foot welcome center, a satellite police office located within the structure and 81 apartment units constructed around the garage.

This project will be evaluated for sustainability and seek U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification, which measures a building’s efficiency.

The College Park will help create one continuous area that connects the special events center, Center Street Green plaza, the Levitt Pavilion and the community together,” university spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan said.

“It’s exciting because this is concrete. It’s all coming together,” she said.

State universities seeking approval

Other state university projects seeking approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board tomorrow.

UT-Arlington - Seeks approval to construct a combined residence hall, parking garage, office and retail complex located at 501 Pecan Street, Arlington, Texas. Project Cost: $80 million

UT-Austin - Seeks approval to construct Phase I of the Dell Computer Science Hall/Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex. This project will provide space for faculty, researchers, visitors, postdoctoral assistants, graduate students, research labs, instructional labs, classrooms, electronic seminar rooms and lecture halls. Project Cost: $98,480,000

Texas Tech University - Seeks reapproval to finish the existing west wing of the Experimental Sciences Building due to an increase in project cost from $6 million to $15 million. Project Cost: $15 million

Texas State University–San Marcos - proposes to construct a new 612-bed residence hall on an asphalt-surface parking lot on north campus, on approximately 3.12 acres of university land. The six-story, 190,047 gross square foot hall will provide housing along with approximately 13,500 square feet of office space and seminar space on the first and second floors of the community portion of the east side of the building. Project Cost: $46,125,712

UT-Dallas - Proposes to construct a three-story, 13,500 gross square foot satellite utility plant, perform renovations to the existing utility plant and provide upgrades to various campus utility infrastructure systems. This project will also address $50,000 of deferred maintenance. Project Cost: $14.3 million

Views: 928 | E-mail

Be first to comment this article