UC Merced to present plans for growth to UC leaders

Sun-Star staff reports

UC Merced today will present plans to the University of California Board of Regents on how it hopes to grow to 10,000 students by 2020, more than doubling its buildings’ square footage.

As part of the plan for growth, the regents will be asked to approve $1.3 million in funding for design plans on the Downtown Center project, an administrative building in downtown Merced.

The campus, which enrolls more than 6,200, will employ a team of private developers and a faster-than-normal construction model to add nearly 1 million square feet as rapidly and cost-effectively as possible to the Lake Road campus.

The 2020 Project is expected to create 10,800 new construction jobs in the San Joaquin Valley and pour an estimated $1.9 billion into the region, according to the university. The expansion project will also increase the university’s number of employees and support enrollment growth to about 10,000 students, the university said.

Construction could begin in late 2016 or the first half of 2017, with buildings built in phases through as late as 2020.

Despite a 14 percent increase in undergraduate applications this fall – the highest in the UC system – the campus has been forced to slow enrollment growth due to capacity constraints. UC Merced received 17,000 applications for fall 2014 but had seats for fewer than 10 percent of its applicants.

“UC Merced’s progress in just 10 years is an exciting development for the university, the Merced community and the state of California,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said, in a news release. “Our development strategy will allow us to resume rapid enrollment growth and advance the regional economy in keeping with our core mission.”

After the presentation to the board, UC Merced is expected to finalize documents in preparation for the project’s request for proposals phase, when prospective development teams apply to design the next phase of the school.

“As the state economy continues to recover from nearly a decade of recession, it’s important to stretch public funds as far as possible while ensuring a UC-quality education to as many eligible students as we can,” Leland said, in the release. “The model we’re pursuing does that by leveraging the financial and operating capabilities of the private sector in ways not previously considered.”

If approved, the Downtown Center would be approximately 75,000 to 100,000 square feet, and meant to consolidate administrative offices. Leaders have said the downtown presence could help the city and university be better intertwined.

The center would be built on land purchased by the university in June at the corner of N and 18th streets, across from City Hall.

[Source]: Merced Sun-Star