Dear colleagues,
I wanted to share some good news that shows significant progress in Project 2020, our accelerated growth plan that will bring the campus to 10,000 students in the next six years.
The campus is the top bidder for a piece of publicly auctioned land in downtown Merced that will likely serve as the site of a building for staff members whose work does not typically involve face-to-face interaction with students and faculty. We are also in negotiations with the City of Merced to lease office space in the Parcade Building at 18th and M streets to serve as a hub for technology transfer and entrepreneurialism.
These developments represent an important campus commitment to downtown Merced. We believe in its growth, vitality and its future role in the development of the campus. The new administrative building and technology hub expands our connection and will be an economic driver for the area as the campus moves toward having 10,000 students by 2020.
The .85-acre parcel is a vacant lot at 18th and N streets, across from the Merced Civic Center. UC Merced will pay $630,000 for the land, barring any issues with escrow. The auction, in the U.S. Eastern District of California Bankruptcy Court, closed Friday and the purchase should close later in the summer. Planning for the location would begin thereafter.
As you all know, research is the cornerstone of the University of California. At UC Merced, innovative faculty members and students conduct cross-disciplinary research that will solve complex problems affecting the region, California and beyond. The Parcade Building would provide an important presence for research commercialization in downtown as UC Merced expands its research portfolio.
The 2020 Project will provide substantial new space for teaching and research, housing, athletics and support space for UC Merced. Our goal is to provide a vibrant, collaborative and sustainable campus and downtown presence for students, faculty and staff by 2020.
The UC Board of Regents endorsed our strategy during discussion of the UC Merced 2020 Project in March and May 2013.
I want to congratulate the 2020 Project team for its hard work thus far. It’s wonderful to see meaningful progress and there’s so much more to come.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Leland
Chancellor
