The community is getting its first look today at the newly unveiled plans for a $1.1 billion expansion of UC Merced. The campus has selected the partnership of Plenary Properties Merced to design, build and operate the facility, which will allow the campus to expand to 10,000 students by the year 2020.
The proposal includes a private investment of $386 million, which is in addition to $600 million in revenue bonds already approved by UC Regents.
The final project still needs approval by the UC board. It is expected to generate 10,000 construction jobs, and could break ground in September.
A central feature of the 2020 expansion area will be an "Academic Walk" with classrooms and meeting spaces on the ground floors, with student housing on the upper floors. A 600-seat Central Dining facility is expected to be complete by 2018. It will eventually be joined by a new quad area, and state-of-the-art labs and research facilities.
The lead contractor for the project is San Francisco-based Webcor Builders, while the architect will be New York based Skidmore Owings and Merrill, one of the 10 largest architecture firms in the nation.
