development, delivered ahead of schedule and under budget
1,547 new student beds, 34,000 sq ft of retail, 700 construction jobs — and more than $130M of the development spend kept in Louisiana.
What I did
I worked the university's side of a four-party development — LSU, the LSU Property Foundation, RISE and Provident Resources Group — where the binding constraint was not money but decision speed. A project of this size opening in time for a specific semester only works if the institution keeps pace with the developer.
“Our project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, which wouldn’t have been possible if Patrick had not been so adept at keeping the university on task and guiding the stakeholders to make quick, smart decisions.”
— Greg Blais, President, RISE
Nicholson Gateway Development Summary
The proposed project is a public-private development venture to create the Nicholson Gateway, to revitalize an older section of LSU’s campus, create a significant new gateway onto the campus, and provide both new and renovated on-campus housing to meet the demands of LSU’s students. The project will also have a retail component, focused on meeting the needs of LSU’s residential and commuter students. LSU is working with the LSU Property Foundation (“Foundation”) and RISE: A Real Estate Company to collaboratively design, finance, construct, and operate the new facilities. The development will open in time for the Fall 2018 semester, with RISE guaranteeing on-time delivery. The proposal is based on a competitive selection process resulting in a recommendation and report from the LSU Property Foundation.
Nicholson Gateway at a Glance
All figures are approximate, based on estimates at the time and subject to change. Detailed designs were still being prepared; final costs were based on final designs. A Guaranteed Maximum Price was agreed before the contracts were executed.
- 1,547new on-campus student beds
- 7new residence halls
- 10,000square feet for a satellite University Recreation facility
- 34,000square feet of retail
- 1,464parking spaces (including 800 in a state-funded parking garage)
- $149Mtotal development cost (inclusive of total construction cost)
- $123Mtotal construction cost
- 700construction jobs created
- 125+permanent jobs created, in both public and private sectors
- $100M+construction dollars staying in Louisiana and the region
- $130M+total development dollars staying in Louisiana and the region
