By Texas A&M University System Communications
[Image: An artist’s rendering of the two buildings for the new Texas A&M-Fort Worth campus. Texas A&M University System]
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Thursday authorized System leaders to begin the design of the second building for the Texas A&M-Fort Worth research campus.
Just last summer, the Texas A&M System broke ground on an eight-story, $180 million Law & Education Building to house its education components. Thursday’s vote authorizes the design of the Research & Innovation Building A, which primarily will be home to A&M system agencies participating in the research campus in southeast downtown, near the expanding convention center.
The building could cost up to $260 million, including 150,000 gross-square-feet of offices and lab space for the Texas A&M System at an estimated cost of $150 million. The remainder would be for private sector partners as well as parking that could be used by campus tenants and the public.
Among the tenants of that building will be the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
“Our state agencies bring a whole different dynamic to the campus, whether through research, workforce training or other services to the community and local businesses,” said Chancellor John Sharp. “The A&M System is here to support the regional economy.”
The Law & Education Building is being paid for with bonds backed by the Permanent University Fund. The Research & Innovation Building A is being financed with a combination of tenant leases, donations and parking revenue.
Long-range plans leave space for future expansion for Research & Innovation Building B. Also, the existing law school will eventually be demolished and replaced with a multi-purpose community building called the Gateway Building.
In other action, the board:
- Authorized renovations to the School of Dentistry’s Main Building in Dallas at a total cost of $22.4 million. Construction will begin in September and is expected to be completed in June 2026.
- Authorized the purchase of approximately 35.45 acres of land located on University Avenue in Texarkana for the construction of an athletic complex for Texas A&M-Texarkana.
- Added to the capital plan a proposed Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Research Greenhouse at the Dallas campus for Texas A&M AgriLife.
- Approved construction of a Public Safety Facility that will be shared by the West Texas A&M police department and the Texas Division of Emergency Management at a cost of $9,975,000. Construction begins in September with completion expected by August 2025.
- Added to the capital plan space in downtown Corpus Christi for expansion of the Rio Grande Advanced Manufacturing Innovation (RAMI) Hub. The workforce training program would be in the five-story Chaparral building.
Content retrieved from: https://today.tamu.edu/2024/08/01/regents-begin-process-of-expanding-texas-am-fort-worth/.
