COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Texas A&M University has selected Balfour Beatty to develop its new $200 million student housing project on the main campus in College Station. Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions will act as lead developer on the project, and Dallas-based Balfour Beatty Construction will serve as construction partner.
The university will finalize contract details with Balfour Beatty in the coming months. Upon approval, the project will be developed through a public-private partnership on a long-term ground lease managed by Texas A&M University Housing and Residence Life.
The proposed 4,000-bed development will offer both apartment and traditional residence hall options on the western side of campus. In addition to the residences, plans call for a community support building for dining services and other amenities.
“West Campus is an integral part of the future for Texas A&M, and it is vital that we have services available to meet the needs of the students, faculty and staff,” says John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. “This project is our first step in creating a new environment for our students and doing it in accordance with our new policy, without new debt or new cash outlays.”
Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions recently broke ground on another project with the Texas A&M University System, a 514-bed student housing facility at the Stephenville, Texas campus of Tarleton State University.
“We are delighted to expand our relationship with the university system,” says Jim Short, senior vice president of Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions. “We have assembled a first-rate team for this important project and look forward to working with our partners and the university to deliver an exceptional living environment for the students at Texas A&M.”
BOKA Powell, an architecture firm based in Dallas, is the architect of record and lead designer on the project. The firm is assisted by Austin, Texas-based Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects and St. Louis-based Mackey Mitchell Architects.
Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions LLC is part of Balfour Beatty Investments Inc., which is a division of international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty plc. Balfour Beatty Construction is also a division of the London-based plc.
Texas A&M has a student body of approximately 58,000, of which 53,000 attend classes at the College Station campus. The university also maintains campuses in Galveston, Texas and Doha, Qatar as well as a law school in Fort Worth, Texas and a research facility 10 miles northwest of the main campus.
— John McCurdy