Louisiana State University

[buckett5425]

Center piece of a mixed-use development....single-use suburban building...

I thought LSU had finally figured it out, I guess not. 

[greg225]

Hopefully they change it should not be hard to do so.

[richyb83]

True Buckett...it's a great mystery because looking at this aerial ....this Nicholson Gateway (mixed use village)...shows NOTHING of a suburban stand-alone center-piece...just a nice dense development on the bottom of the pic (left of Tiger Stadium)...

 

it would be nice if this pic included the new projects....River District & Water Campus btwn LSU(bottom) & downtown(top)

 

  

Edited December 24, 2014 by richyb83

[dan326]

Yeah, it probably could be better, I wonder where it'll be located?

[Mr. Burnham]

Yeah, it probably could be better, I wonder where it'll be located?

probably one of those buildings with a parking lot in front.

[dan326]

Oh yeah, it looks good, but I'm not sure centerpiece is the most accurate word. But then again it might be good depending on how big it is.

Edited December 25, 2014 by dan326

[Mr. Burnham]

Oh yeah, it looks good, but I'm not sure centerpiece is the most accurate word. But then again it might be good depending on how big it is.

I think by Centerpiece they mean it is an anchor for the development.

[dan326]

It really is incredible to me just how much  money LSU has. I didn't really believe they'd be able to build the engineering addition, but not only are they doing that, but they're also completely renovating and reskinning Patrick Taylor. I mean, there's a lot of things, I've never heard of but who has every heard of reskinning a big ole building like CEBA??

"In April of 2015, LSU will begin the renovation and expansion of the Patrick F Taylor Hall. This project includes a 130,000 square foot expansion of the existing 300,000 square foot LSU College of Engineering. The scope of work includes the conversion of the exterior courtyards into interior “collaborative engineering workshops”. In addition, the existing building will receive a renovation/retrofit complete with new finishes and new mechanical and electrical systems. Because this project is the first phase of a multiphase redevelopment of the southern portion of campus, the existing 1970’s modernist façade will be removed and replaced with an architectural precast concrete façade which complements the historic architecture of LSU."

 

I'm guessing this is on the converted courtyards.

http://www.cparch.com/portfolio_detail.cfm?gal=70&galcat=6

Edited September 9, 2015 by dan326

[Mr. Burnham]

As the great Donald Trump would say, "LSU is FABULOUSLY wealthy."

[Antrell Williams]

...while UNO shrivels up

[ehyfield]

NOLA can have the airport. We can have the University. Fair?

[Mr. Burnham]

New Orleans has Loyola and Tulane, some of the most prestigious schools in the South. 

Edited September 10, 2015 by mr. bernham

[Antrell Williams]

New Orleans has Loyola and Tulane, some of the most prestigious schools in the South. 

Those are private schools. UNO is in the LSU system and is probably a few years away from closing, last I heard.

[dan326]

As the great Donald Trump would say, "LSU is FABULOUSLY wealthy."

lol!

I thought UNO was part of Southern?

[greg225]

lol!

I thought UNO was part of Southern?

SUNO Southern University New Orleans  is  part of Southern

[Mr. Burnham]

I didn't realize UNO was in that bad of a state...but how can you take money away from LSU when it's one of the largest employers in the city, and in many ways is the states showpiece school. 

[Antrell Williams]

I didn't realize UNO was in that bad of a state...but how can you take money away from LSU when it's one of the largest employers in the city, and in many ways is the states showpiece school. 

At the expense of another university's existence? I think UNO has tremendous potential being that it's on the lake and in one of the most popular cities in the country. Helping each other benefits both parties.

This is a common gripe heard from New Orleanians and I think it's certainly a fair one.

[dan326]

What all universities are under the LSU umbrella?

[greg225]

Bond commission to consider $2M for LSU lakes project this week   

The Louisiana Lakes Conservancy, the organization created by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to rehabilitate the LSU lake system, will ask the State Bond Commission this week to approve $2 million for planning and design work to get the project started. The commission meets Thursday.

Earlier this year, the state legislature approved $14 million for the lakes rehabilitation project, which is a fraction of the estimated $40 million total price tag. However, the conservancy will get no more than $2 million of that this fiscal year, as that is all that has been recommended for approval, according to the agenda for Thursday’s bond commission meeting. The project is listed in the Priority 2 category, which means dozens of projects in Priority 1 will likely be funded first.

Assuming the project is approved, funds will be used to develop construction documents and detailed plans from which a Request For Proposals will be issued.  

In July, BRAF unveiled a master plan for the rehabilitation of the six-lake system after more than a year of study, research and community meetings. The plan calls for dredging the lakes to improve their health while also developing wildlife habitats, a new trail system and better lighting and signage.

It is unknown how the entire project will be funded. In addition to state money, BP settlement funds have been mentioned as a possible source, as well as federal grants and public-private partnerships.  https://www.businessreport.com/article/bond-commission-consider-2m-lsu-lakes-project-week

[greg225]

LSU working on finalizing contract with Seattle firm NBBJ to update campus master plan       

LSU is in negotiations with Seattle-based NBBJ to hire the firm to create an updated master plan for the flagship Baton Rouge campus.

NBBJ was selected for the job from among four master planning firms that responded to a request for qualifications and made public pitches last month.

“Although the 2003 master plan still serves as the guiding principle for all development on campus, building on the framework of that plan with a more comprehensive and strategic master planning effort is certainly in order, and I am very excited to move forward with this important planning effort for LSU,” says Roger Husser, director of LSU planning, design and construction, and a member of the master plan support and facilitation committee, in a prepared statement.

Several components of the master plan, including residential life, parking, dining, infrastructure, space analysis and classroom utilization, as well as College of Science space studies, are in progress or have been recently completed. LSU says these studies will be used by NBBJ to ensure the new plan is related to the future space needs on campus.

“Development on campus has progressed rapidly since 2003, and the current and upcoming development is unprecedented,” says Husser. “Whereas the 2003 master plan identified how the campus might look in 50 years, we need to know how we should strategically grow in the next five to 10 years. An updated master plan for LSU that is developed by the campus community to meet expected outcomes will certainly serve the university well.”

Completion of the comprehensive and strategic master plan is expected to take 18 to 24 months, and LSU says several meetings with internal and external stakeholders will be scheduled to gather opinions and suggestions on future campus growth. Other master planning firm finalists who were vying for the work were Cannon Design, Perkins + Will and Sasaki.

With 11 offices worldwide, NBBJ has more than 750 employees and its previous clients include Alibaba, Amazon, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Boeing, Cambridge University, Cleveland Clinic, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, Reebok, Samsung, Stanford University and Starbucks, among many others.

LSU has more details on today’s announcement.     https://www.businessreport.com/article/lsu-working-finalizing-contract-seattle-firm-nbbj-update-campus-master-plan

[greg225]

LSU Gateway Development could be bundled with plan to replace aging on-campus dorms  

The five firms submitting proposals for the LSU Gateway Development, a planned mixed-use project of student housing and retail space on Nicholson Drive, will also have an opportunity to bid on replacing six, 1960s-era residence halls on campus.

LSU’s housing master plan calls for replacing Miller, Herget, McVoy, Acadian, Broussard and Kirby Smith halls with some 2,100 new beds—an expensive process that could take 15 years or more. In late 2014, the university explored creating a public-private partnership as a way of accelerating the process but determined that approach was not cost effective.

With planning for the Gateway Project now underway, however, LSU is looking into whether bundling the two projects makes sense. The five firms that were selected to submit proposals for the Gateway Development—American Campus Communities, Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, Capstone Development Partners, Corvias Campus Living and RISE—have also been invited to submit proposals for a package deal that includes replacing the aging, on-campus dorms.

“The Nicholson Gateway development is an appropriate scale and has the market demand to be successful and profitable on a stand-alone basis,” says Sara Crow, a spokeswoman for the LSU Foundation, which is handling the Gateway Development on behalf of the university. “However, the provision of an option for submitting developers would allow for the LSU Property Foundation to determine if market conditions for a larger project scale would make different, more advantageous capital models available.”

Proposers will not be required to submit a bundled option. Presumably, however, a private developer that could make both projects happen at an attractive price and in fewer than 15 years would have a competitive edge.

“The LSU Property Foundation will use a process that allows industry responses to the RFQs/RFPs to drive the best overall outcome for the LSU community, including the parameters that the deal is economically advantageous and would not adversely impact LSU’s housing-related bond obligations,” Crow says.

Proposals are due to the LSU Property Foundation on Nov. 2. From those, a short list of finalists will be selected to visit the campus. The winner will be named in early 2016. https://www.businessreport.com/article/lsu-gateway-development-bundled-plan-replace-aging-campus-dorms

[greg225]

LSU’s digital media initiative coming of age after humble launch nine years ago                 

On a recent Tuesday morning at LSU’s Louisiana Digital Media Center, seven students in the digital media arts and engineering master’s program sat in a glass-walled second-floor classroom, two computer monitors in front of each of them.

As Business Report details in a feature from the current issue, O’mar Finley, Brandon Bailey and Trill Noel were presenting their group project: a website for an imaginary health club. Technically, the site seems fine, but it lacks a consistent look.

“I can certainly see that it looks like three people made it, just based on color choices,” says their teacher, Marc Aubanel, who directs the Digital Media Arts & Engineering program. “At some point, rather than hashing it out, I think you kind of agreed to disagree, and went off into your corners and did your own thing.”

The team concedes that they probably should have spent more time planning.

“I think we were itching to start coding,” Finley says. “I guess the fear of not being able to finish kind of washed over us, so we just kind of jumped in as soon as possible.”

But flaws aside, the team takes pride in its finished product. During a class break after the presentation, Noel says he had to learn three programming languages to complete his portion of the project.

“We conquered the unknown,” Bailey adds.

That convergence reflects the needs of the digital media industry, where companies want workers who can collaborate with people who have different specialties, Aubanel says.

LSU began developing its Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR, initiative in about 2006. It started with an effort to recruit more faculty in various disciplines to offer more digital media-focused courses and programs, explains Robert Kooima, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

In 2008 AVATAR was credited with helping Electronic Arts choose LSU as the future home of its first U.S.-based video game testing facility. Construction began on the 94,000-square-foot Digital Media Center, which houses the Center for Computation & Technology and EA, in 2011, and the building was officially dedicated last year.

Seven campus units now participate in the AVATAR initiative, including the schools of art and music; the departments of computer science, electrical and computer engineering, English, and mass communication; and the CCT. LSU’s digital media minor grew out of AVATAR. The minor was established in 2010, and the first graduates of the program finished in 2012. About 200 students have completed the minor so far.

Read the full feature.    https://www.businessreport.com/article/lsus-digital-media-initiative-coming-age-humble-launch-nine-years-ago

[greg225]

Firm working on LSU master plan to visit campus next week for meetings with stakeholders              

Architects with NBBJ, a nationally recognized planning and design firm, will fly into Baton Rouge next week to hold meetings over three days with LSU brass and select stakeholders as the Seattle-based firm begins crafting an updated master plan for the flagship Baton Rouge campus.

LSU Planning, Design and Construction Department Director Tammy Millican says each group will pitch its ideas to the firm of what it would like to see in the master plan during seven meetings set to take place over a 48-hour span.

The architects will incorporate those ideas to fine-tune the scope of their proposal that will be presented to the university sometime in December. LSU and the firm will then finalize the contract for the 18-month project, which Millican says has an estimated January start date.

Assisting NBBJ with the massive undertaking are nine other architecture and design firms, including New Orleans-based Eskew+Dumez+Ripple as the local planner and architect. Other firms will aid with various portions of the master plan, such as traffic and transportation, ecology and student life.

“Those firms will all offer their expertise in this comprehensive and strategic master plan,” Millican says.

LSU last updated a master plan for its main campus in 2003, and while that strategy continues to serve as a roadmap to guide development of the campus, it is time to for an update, officials say.

“This plan is going to plan for the fiscal development for the next 20 years,” Millican says, adding, “This is not a document that is going to be put on a shelf to collect dust.”

One issue that must be tackled, Millican says, is the fact that some departments are fragmented throughout several buildings across campus and should be consolidated into one area. Moving some departments across campus like pieces on a chessboard may be required for other reasons, such as clustering departments for research purposes, Millican says.

Another aspect to be addressed is whether new infrastructure may be needed in some areas of campus targeted for future buildings and renovations. That is where AEI, one of the firms assisting NBBJ, comes in. It will examine the infrastructure campuswide and note the areas that need to be addressed.

NBBJ was chosen from four master planning firms that responded to a request for proposals and made public pitches in September. Other master planning firm finalists vying for the work were Cannon Design, Perkins + Will and Sasaki.

With 11 offices worldwide, NBBJ has more than 750 employees and its previous clients include Alibaba, Amazon, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Boeing, Cambridge University, Cleveland Clinic, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, Reebok, Samsung, Stanford University and Starbucks, among many others.     https://www.businessreport.com/article/firm-working-lsu-master-plan-visit-campus-next-week-meetings-stakeholders

[dan326]

That firm has some big clients, hopefully they'll create a good plan.

[greg225]

Four semifinalists for LSU Gateway Project present proposals today            

The LSU Property Foundation will hear presentations today from four developers bidding on the LSU Gateway Project, a mixed-use development of student housing and retail space that will be located on a 28-acre site of the Nicholson Drive Corridor between West Chimes Street and Skip Bertman Drive.

In early October, the foundation announced five firms had been invited to submit proposals. One firm, Corvias, chose not to participate. The four remaining semifinalists include: American Campus Communities, a publicly traded student housing real estate investment trust based in Austin, Texas; Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, a Malvern, Pennsylvania-based firm; Capstone Development Partners of Birmingham, Alabama; and RISE, a Valdosta, Georgia, developer.

All four firms specialize in student housing developments, and all have partnered with local developers and real estate firms. The foundation declines to identify the local development partners, noting that such arrangements are still subject to change.

“(After today’s presentation), the LSU Property Foundation will narrow the field to two finalists,” says LSU Foundation spokeswoman Sara Crow. “When those finalists are selected, information about prospective team members, such as their local partners, will be solidified and can be shared.”

Crow says the developer will be selected early next year after in-depth negotiations with two finalists.

The developer selected for the LSU Gateway project will enter into a public-private partnership with the university to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the development. As envisioned, it will include 1,260 apartment-style beds and 410 suite-style beds with associated residential support spaces, such as lounge spaces, study areas, community gathering places and retail food service. The project also is expected to include 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of new retail space. A final price tag has not been determined      https://www.businessreport.com/article/four-semifinalists-lsu-gateway-project-present-proposals-today