UCD Business School Searches for New Facility

Sueann Ambron, dean of the business school at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Science Center, notes that the school is in the early stages of the search. A site, the exact cost, and the size of building are still undetermined.

"But typically, a major business school cost in the $50 million-plus range," she tells GlobeSt.com. "We've done some preliminary work on the size, but we don't yet have a definitive number, but we think it would be in the range of 150,000 sf."

However, she can't count on the cash-strapped state to foot the bill. Instead, Ambron tells GlobeSt.com that the university plans to raise the money, and the school would be willing to name the building after a major benefactor.

Why now? After all, the business school was founded in 1912, as a branch campus for the system, so it has a long history without a flagship building. And unlike most of CU-Denver, the business school is not on the Auraria campus. "Last year, the University of Colorado at Denver consolidated with the Health Science Center, at 9th and Colorado and at Fitzsimons in Aurora," she notes. "That was a very significant move."

She compared UCD to UCLA, which was established as the southern branch of the University of California, but now is a highly respected institution in its own right.

"The consolidation of the health sciences center and the downtown campus creates a major urban research university," she says. "It puts this major research university in downtown." Students, she notes, work on real life problems with businesses, hospitals and non-profits in downtown. For example, students currently are helping the Downtown Denver Partnership with a retail demand survey. That survey is expected to be released in August.