UC Davis Reveals Preliminary Plans For Aggie Square’s First Phase

Source: Sacramento Business Journal, Felicia Alvarez
Photo: A rendering of Aggie Square, which is expected to fill 25 acres along Stockton Boulevard. (COURTESY OF UC DAVIS)

The University of California Davis debuted designs for the first of three phases of its planned Sacramento satellite campus Tuesday afternoon.

The plans are set to see investment in the life sciences and workforce development components of the project. The first phase of Aggie Square is expected to include five structures within 8 acres. Aggie Square as a whole is anticipated to fill 25 acres along Stockton Boulevard.

The largest structure will be a pair of five-story buildings with about 500,000 square feet for cell and gene therapies, medical device development, digital health and biomedical engineering as well as career development and tech incubator space.

The university is currently courting third-party companies to lead the effort, similar to how Kindred Healthcare LLC was chosen to operate the upcoming UC Davis Rehabilitation Hospital planned for Aggie Square.

“We’re getting strong interest from corporate partners,” said Bob Segar, planning director for Aggie Square.

Private development and private investment will fuel much of Aggie Square, according to Segar. The university is currently preparing a request for qualification, which it plans to send in June, seeking private investors to develop the site and then allow corporations, businesses and community organizations to occupy.

“At the same time we’re continuing outreach and engagement … we need to go out and start recruiting investors that will make it happen for us,” Segar said.

The first phase will also include a 250,000-square-foot tower with classroom space. The UC Davis Extension has been chosen as the anchor tenant for the structure to spearhead workforce development and continuing education efforts. The site will have a particular focus on building an information technology workforce, according to the university.

In addition, a new mobility hub for electronic bus transportation will appear in the first phase of development. The hub will support new bus lines that will run through Aggie Square, downtown Sacramento and Davis, as well as commuter lines to Elk Grove.

The first phase will see housing that could potentially serve students and university affiliates. The university has not yet determined the number of units, nor the exact population that will be housed on campus, according to Aggie Square’s planners.

To further relieve housing needs in the area, revenue from Sacramento’s Measure U may be used to help set up an affordable housing trust fund that could be applied to the area, Mayor Darrell Steinberg told the Business Journal. Sacramento voters approved Measure U, a half-cent sales tax increase, in November.

Connecting all of these structures will be a 0.75-acre square plaza, dubbed “Aggie Square,” that will serve as a central meeting and mobile workspace area. All five of the structures will be oriented to have their doors open onto the square, Segar said.

Additional space has also been set aside to the south of the site for two parking structures.

A formal request for proposals is expected to follow in the fall, with the university setting an eventual 2021 date to break ground on the first phase.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2019/04/23/uc-davis-reveals-preliminary-plans-for-aggie