Centennial Campus has plans for expansion in years to come that will develop a unique innovation district on campus, create a relationship between product partners and continue to tell NC State’s unique story with new architecture and opportunities for students.
NC State recently announced its plans for the expansion on Centennial Campus that has been underway for the past 16 months.
“Centennial Campus has been growing steadily over the past several years,” said Jeff Bandini, the associate vice chancellor of Real Estate and Development at NC State. “This next phase is essentially a continuation of that growth and we’ve been planning this next phase of development for about the last 16 months.”
The expansion will take place on the 32 acres of land along Oval Drive. As part of the expansion, both segments of Initiative Way will be connected.
“The next phase could take many years,” Bandini said. “It could take anywhere from between five to 15 years, or longer.”
Bandini said that construction should go according to plan if economic conditions remain stable.
“We’re really expecting our private development partners to come in and develop a variety of new uses on Centennial Campus, including restaurants, some retail, laboratory and research space and innovation space for entrepreneurs and new companies,” Bandini said.
Bandini expects the expansion to affect students in a variety of ways. Expanding Centennial Campus will allow for more private companies to partner with the University to create more internships and job possibilities for students. Students will have access to networking opportunities and more amenities on campus.
Justin Doble, a fourth-year studying mechanical engineering, already spends much of his time on Centennial Campus. In addition to his classes, he does work in Hunt Library and often uses the workspace in the Entrepreneurship Initiative. However, he hasn’t had much experience with the private companies located on Centennial.
“They aren’t really that close to the classrooms,” Doble said. “They’re around, but they don’t really interact with students a whole lot.”
He also hasn’t seen much expansion in his time here.
“They had all the buildings they currently have except for some of the private company buildings,” Doble said. “Most of it’s been cosmetic changes, but there’s been a lot of construction to roads.”
Though he is already on Centennial Campus for most of the day, Doble says he would have spent more time had the upcoming expansion already been completed.
“If [the expansion] had been there when I was younger, I probably would have lived there,” Doble said.
Centennial Campus is known nationwide as a premiere university-led innovation district. Bandini says that as the campus continues to develop, NC State’s unique reputation and brand will continue to grow throughout the country.
“It provides critical academic research and entrepreneurial space for the campus community and its partners,” Bandini said. “We’re very excited about what’s coming next for Centennial for the students and faculty at NC State.”
Construction for the expansion of Centennial Campus is planned to begin in 2019.
