A&M-Fort Worth Nearly Doubles Construction Budget

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents recently announced its decision to practically double the construction budget of Phase One of the Texas A&M-Fort Worth research campus, from $85 million to $150 million, according to a university news release.

The increased budget is due to demands and requests for space in the Law & Education building, which will stand nine stories and measure in at 225,000 square feet. The facility will play home to programs in law, engineering, health sciences, business, and others, the news release reports.

“There is so much opportunity for the Texas A&M System to serve Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and all of North Texas, we had to go bigger and taller in the first building,” said Chancellor John Sharp.

The Law & Education Building will be the first of a three-building complex on four city blocks. The other two structures will consist of public-private sector partnerships built with city-issued bonds and funded by lease payments from both the Texas A&M System and private-sector companies. The campus will form a “hub of collaboration between key Fort Worth industries and top research, education and workforce training assets of the Texas A&M System,” the news release reports.

The Texas A&M University School of Law and its 1,200 students will take up about half of the building. The Regents also authorized $15 million of the $150-million budget toward design and pre-construction services. The Board could be requested to give the final authorization for the project’s groundbreaking by May 2023, according to the news release.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Image credit: O

    Strategic Campus Assessment: Moving Beyond Reactive Maintenance in Educational Facilities

    While campuses may appear stable on the surface, building systems naturally evolve over time, and proactive assessment can identify developing issues before they become expensive emergencies. The question isn't whether aging educational facilities need attention. It's how institutions can transition from costly reactive maintenance to strategic asset management in a way that protects both budgets and communities.

  • University of Southern Mississippi Starts Construction on Oyster Hatchery

    The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) recently announced that construction has begun on a new oyster hatchery at its Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center (TCMAC) Cedar Point campus in Ocean Springs, Miss., according to a news release.

  • Upcoming University of Alabama Performing Arts Center Hits Construction Milestone

    The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., recently celebrated the topping out of its new Smith Family Center for Performing Arts, according to a news release. The university is partnering with HPM for program and project management on the facility, which broke ground in 2023 and is scheduled for completion in November 2026.

  • South Texas K–12 District Debuts Region’s First Electric Bus Fleet

    The Valley View Independent School District in Pharr, Texas, recently announced a partnership with Highland Electric Fleets to launch the district’s—and the region’s—first fleet of all-electric school buses, according to a news release.

Digital Edition