UNL to recommend to Regents 2 firms on Innovation Campus project

Lincoln, Neb., April 17th, 2009 — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has selected two firms for consulting contracts on its Innovation Campus project after a formal proposal process. The selection of SmithGroup/JJR and Noddle Development will be recommended to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents at its April 24 meeting.

Selected as the campus master planner, SmithGroup/JJR is an award-winning, nationally and internationally recognized multidisciplinary architectural, planning and engineering firm with experience in architecture, campus planning, landscape architecture, innovative engineering and sustainable design. With offices in 11 cities, the firm has completed more than 200 campus master plans for academic and research campuses nationwide, with more than 25 million square feet combined research, academic and student support facilities for higher education institutions in just the last 10 years. SmithGroup/JJR has planned and designed more than 3 million square feet of LEED certified facilities, including the first LEED platinum-certified laboratory building. SmithGroup/JJR has planned University of Minnesota's East Gateway Bio-Sciences Research District, Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research, Indiana University Research and Technology Park, and Phoenix Biomedical Center at Copper Square. The Innovation Campus project will be led by its Ann Arbor, Mich., office.

Partners with SmithGroup/JJR for the master plan will be Ehrhart Griffin Associates, and Alvine Engineering, Eco-Centrics, and RDG Planning and Design, all of Omaha.
Noddle Development of Omaha was selected for the business strategy plan. Its team members are GBBN Architects and KMK Consulting, both of Cincinnati; ERA/AECOM of Los Angeles, Kiewit Co. of Omaha and Research Park Consultants of Tucson, Ariz. In its 40-year history, Noddle Development has developed more than 125 projects comprising approximately 8.5 million square feet in 18 states, including the Aksarben Village mixed-use project in Omaha.

In July 2008 a Request for Information process solicited information about how to approach the development opportunity. The university then issued to Request for Proposals in December, and 19 were submitted by February for the formal evaluation and interview process.

Innovation Campus is a proposed redevelopment of State Fair Park into a private/public research community. The development will exploit the opportunity of private sector co-location with the university's basic and applied research and will create opportunities for economic development. Partnership opportunities will come through mutual research projects with university faculty, internships by university students, access to scientific advancement with cutting-edge research for private industry researchers and scientists, and opportunities for sharing expensive core facilities and instrumentation.
The firms will work together and separately with the university. The campus master planner will identify and create a phasing plan for possibly using existing buildings at the site, will conduct an infrastructure capacity analysis, evaluate the flood plain and general topography, identify the approval processes and state and local development requirements, perform traffic analysis including connectivity to existing campuses and city via trails and alternative transportation systems, create a design that establishes a sense of place, phased growth and a land use plan with site layout, building envelopes, building massing and parking. UNL is committed to incorporating sustainable development practices at Innovation Campus.

The business strategy planner will identify business models for Innovation Campus tenants and leasing options, identify and define the range of marketable facility types for development based on return-on-investment models, identify and define campus management approaches for operations, security, warehousing and shared laboratory support services; develop a cost analysis plan for the infrastructure; and plan the financing structure, operating budget and marketing.

UNL chancellor Harvey Perlman said the committee that reviewed the proposals was pleased with the quality of the proposals and the varied interest in the project from all over the country, and is enthusiastic about the project moving to the next phase.

"We have assembled an exciting collection of talent and experience to help move Innovation Campus forward," Perlman said. "These consultants impressed us with their passion for our project, their willingness to partner with the university in arriving at plans that implement our vision, and their intentions to engage with a wide segment of the broader community who may have an interest in this project. We are reinforced in our belief that this is an exciting project that will benefit the university and the state of Nebraska."

Pending Regents approval of the partnering firms, they will have until December to submit plans to the board for transmittal to the Nebraska Legislature, as dictated by LB1116.
Contacts:

• Christine Jackson, Vice Chancellor, Business and Finance, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , phone: (402) 472-4455

You may view the Press Release on UNL’s website.