MERCED, CA-The University of California, Merced, is seeking a development team to finance and develop an expansion of the campus. The move would allow the college to enroll 10,000 students by 2020.

UC Merced has selected Jones Lang LaSalle to act as its development and financial advisor for the 2020 Project.

Enrollment at the newest UC campus, which opened in 2005 with 875 students, has surged to nearly 6,200, creating severe space limitations on campus. The 2020 Project is a critical step to accommodate rapid growth in enrollment, which is expected to reach 10,000 students within the next six years.

In early spring 2014, the university will issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) for one or more development partners. (The RFQ will be the first of a two-stage RFQ/RFP process.) The selected development team will design and build approximately 1.5 million square feet of new teaching, research and residential facilities on a 219-acre, university-owned site adjacent to the existing campus. The university aims to have a team in place by year's end and begin construction in 2017.

“With student applications hitting new records each year, we need to add more buildings, facilities and housing quickly and cost-effectively to ensure as many qualified students as possible can be admitted,” chancellor Dorothy Leland said.

Campus planners envision the expansion consisting of mixed-use facilities built in compact clusters to save development time and money. In May 2013, the UC Board of Regents approved an amendment to the campus's master plan and certified an environmental impact report to enable the 2020 Project to move forward.

“We will look for a development team with a demonstrated track record and capacity to deliver dynamic, large-scale projects,” vice chancellor for planning and budget Daniel Feitelberg said. “The 2020 Project is structured to give us much greater flexibility in designing, building and financing sustainable, high-quality facilities for the next phase of growth.”

UC Merced is the first new UC campus in 40 years. The campus has the largest percentage of first-generation college students, students from low-income families and students from underrepresented ethnic groups in the 10-campus UC system. When fully developed, UC Merced is expected to enroll some 25,000 students in undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs across a broad spectrum of academic disciplines.

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UC Merced to Issue RFP on Expansion Plan

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