New Business Building

School of Business Building Enters Next Phase of Construction

Site Factory admin — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 00:31:14 +0000

School of Business Building Enters Next Phase of Construction Site Factory admin Tue, 01/09/2024 - 16:31 More News Imran Ghori | Inside UCR January 02, 2024

UC Riverside’s new School of Business building entered a new phase of construction recently as work moves forward for an August 2024 opening.

In late December, the school and construction team celebrated the midpoint of construction as crews poured the final concrete placement for the frame of the building.

“The super structure is what we call it — it’s complete,” said Frank Salhab, project manager with contractor McCarthy Building Companies.

For the last several months, carpenters, iron workers, and other construction crew members created the concrete and steel frame of the building. Those crews wrapped up their work Dec. 18 and a new group of tradespeople began working on the project.

The next phase involves buildout of the exterior skin of the building and interior elements including mechanical, electrical, and plumbing fixtures.

Construction on the new building began last spring and is proceeding on schedule, Salhab said.

“We’re right on time with the university’s support,” he said.

The four-story, 63,400-square-foot building is being built just south of Anderson Hall, where most of the school’s programs and administration are currently housed. The new instructional and administrative building will provide increased space and modern facilities to meet growing enrollment demands.

Construction crew members celebrated the midpoint of construction for the new School of Business building on Dec. 15, 2023. (UCR/Imran Ghori)

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School of Business Celebrates Groundbreaking for its New Building

Site Factory admin — Tue, 02 May 2023 16:46:54 +0000

School of Business Celebrates Groundbreaking for its New Building Site Factory admin Tue, 05/02/2023 - 09:46 More News Imran Ghori | Inside UCR May 01, 2023

UC Riverside celebrated a new chapter for the School of Business with a groundbreaking ceremony for a new instructional and administrative building that will provide increased space and modern facilities to meet growing enrollment demands.

Campus and community leaders gathered Thursday, April 27 at former Parking Lot 8, where the four-story, 63,400-square-foot building is being built. The site is just south of Anderson Hall, where most of the school’s program and administration are currently housed.

Preliminary grading work on the site began last fall. The project is expected to be completed by fall 2024.

UCR School of Business Dean Yunzeng Wang at the goundbreaking ceremony for the new School of Business building on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at UC Riverside. (UCR/Stan Lim)

Yunzeng Wang, dean of the School of Business, said the project will help move forward the school’s vision to create a world-class environment where students and faculty can engage with business leaders and deepen connections to the community.

“This beautiful new building, set to open in 2024, will provide much needed space for the growth of the school outlined in our strategic plan, including new programs, increased enrollment for both undergraduate and graduate programs, and additional faculty,” he said.

The new building will have 38,500-square feet of assignable space with features including a large multipurpose room; two 80-seat classrooms; a 350-seat auditorium; a computer lab; a studio to record podcasts, lectures, videos, and other media; study areas; a student lounge; 20 faculty offices; 59 administrative offices including one for the dean; a faculty and staff lounge; an executive meeting room; and group meeting rooms.

The facility will include state-of-the-art technology for hybrid learning where lecturers can deliver multi-media lectures that can be recorded and streamed.

Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox called the groundbreaking an opportunity to celebrate the transition from the school’s past at Anderson, which helped shaped its accomplishments, to an exciting future at the new building.

UCR School of Business Dean Yunzeng Wang and Chancellor Kim. A. Wilcox at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new School of Business building on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at UC Riverside. (UCR/Stan Lim)

“We’re in a blessed position to be able to think about what Anderson Hall has meant to us with the school’s history and all of what the new School of Business building is going to mean for us,” Wilcox said.

Since 2015, the school’s enrollment has grown by 58% to 2,100 students in fall 2021 as both graduate and undergraduate programs have grown in popularity even as classroom and administrative space has remained limited.

Campus Architect and Associate Vice Chancellor Jacqueline Norman said the new project reflects the work of the school and UCR in building a program whose reputation has grown in the business world and attracted increased student demand.

“Today is the day where we get to see the physical manifestations of their work come to fruition,” she said.

Norman said the building will be a transformative one with interior and exterior design features that make use of the hillside topography. It includes both symbolic and physical connections between the past and present linking Anderson Hall and the new building with benches, a walking path, and other elements, creating a centralized School of Business hub. It’s also expected to set the tone for future growth in the south campus area.

Dave Robinson, chair of the School of Business Dean’s Advisory Council, said UCR has shaped the lives of many people including his own family’s—both Robinson, his wife and his son are UCR alumni. He said the new project will allow the School of Business to strengthen its mission of serving the region and building a bridge with the business community.

“Business needs the business school—the source of its future leaders, innovators, and, yes, disruptors, just as the business school needs the business community—the source of internships, jobs, and career paths for our outstanding students,” he said.

Rami Zwick, associate dean of graduate programs and a professor of marketing, said the new building will create a sense of home for students.

He noted that most of the school’s students take their courses all over the campus, including until recently a movie theater at University Village, and usually only visit Anderson for office hours or Olmsted Hall to see their advisers.

“Think of the difference it’s going to make to students who take undergraduate courses at the new building,” Zwick said. “I am looking forward to providing our students, both graduate and undergraduate, with a sense of home, both spiritually and physically.”

Campus leaders and the project team take their turn shoveling dirt at the goundbreaking ceremony for the new School of Business building on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at UC Riverside. (UCR/Stan Lim)

View more groundbreaking ceremony photos on Flickr:

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Building the Future for UCR's School of Business

Site Factory admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:43:01 +0000

Building the Future for UCR's School of Business Site Factory admin Wed, 12/14/2022 - 07:43 More News Sarah Nightingale | UCR News June 01, 2021

Beverly Bailey knows a thing or two about building things.

As a student at Riverside City College, she helped her boyfriend, Scott, hang patio covers on the weekends. When she turned 20, she bought and ran a small café in Chino, putting her entrepreneurial spirit to the test as she worked some of the longest days of her life. Then, she earned her real estate license, making a living helping people build their dream homes.

She married Scott, and for the past 30 years they’ve been building Stronghold Engineering, a company they started from their kitchen table that is now one of the top general contracting firms in Southern California.

Their recent $1 million pledge to UC Riverside helps build a bright future for the university’s School of Business. The endowed gift will provide building maintenance funds for a new business school complex as part of a planned campus hub for professional development and community engagement.

“The school is full of gratitude and we’re honored to be a friend and partner of Beverly Bailey,” says Yunzeng Wang, dean of the UCR School of Business. “Her recent expression of generosity through a $1 million commitment in support of the future business complex is very exciting and will help build momentum in support of the new state-of-the-art facility.”

Beverly, whose father was in the Air Force, was born at Clark Air Base in the Philippines and moved every few years until her father retired at March Air Force Base, and the Inland Empire became home.

While raising three children, the Baileys grew Stronghold Engineering from a home-based electrical contracting company to a full-service design and construction firm that has completed more than $2.5 billion in construction projects and employs 185 people. The firm is ranked among the top 10 minority- and women-owned construction companies in the nation and was recognized by the Women’s Presidents’ Organization as one of the 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies.

Beverly’s success as president and CEO of Stronghold has garnered her top awards, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Inland Empire honor in 2000, the 2016 Enterprising Woman of the Year Award, the 2020 American Heart Association Legendary Women of the Heart designation, 2020 Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year Award, and most recently, the 2021 Construction Leader of the Year Award at the Women in Energy Leadership Summit. As Stronghold grew, so did Beverly’s involvement with the community, including at UCR. She currently serves as both a UCR Foundation trustee and chair for the School of Business Dean’s Advisory Council. She also served as a UC Riverside School of Business Executive Fellow, and along with Scott, established the Executive Fellows Endowed Scholarship Fund.

“The UCR Foundation is proud to have trustees like Beverly Bailey on our board,” says Brian Hawley, chair of the UCR Board of Trustees. “Her generosity of time and treasure to the School of Business is well known, and she is recognized as a philanthropic leader in our region. I’m pleased to see that this thoughtful gift will impact future generations of Highlanders.”

The family’s $1 million estate gift will help UCR realize its vision of creating a new space for academic growth, research, and economic development to flourish in the Inland Empire.

“We envision a state-of-the art facility that will feed the minds of potential hungry entrepreneurs and be a catalyst for relevant, local, and international business education,” Beverly says. “The designation of this gift is to support the maintenance operations of the new school. Being in construction, I have seen facilities fall into disrepair because maintenance costs were never thought about or factored in.”

She hopes the gift will inspire others to support the business school and its students during this transformative time.

“We are very pleased to support UCR on its journey as a world-class business school,” she says. “By investing locally we can see this come to fruition.”

The Bailey family includes, from left, Brandon, Alyssa, Beverly, Scott, and Kyler.

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Regents Approve Plans for New School of Business Building

Site Factory admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 21:14:51 +0000

Regents Approve Plans for New School of Business Building Site Factory admin Fri, 09/16/2022 - 14:14 More News Imran Ghori | UCR News July 26, 2022

The Regents of the University of California have approved construction plans for a new UC Riverside School of Business building that will provide more instructional and administrative space to meet growing enrollment demand.

The vote, which took place July 20, allows the campus to move forward with construction this fall. The new building is expected to be completed by fall 2024.

The project consists of a four-story building that includes modern classrooms, a large auditorium, a computer lab, and other instructional space. It will be built at Parking Lot 8, just south of Anderson Hall. Anderson houses most of the school’s programs and administration.

“We are so very pleased to be given the approval by the UC Regents to move forward with our new School of Business building,” said Yunzeng Wang, dean of the School of Business. “This is the cornerstone in our plan to grow the UCR School of Business through new faculty, increased enrollment, and additional staff, and increase our engagement with the community through building a central hub for connection between business leaders, our research faculty, and our students.”

Wang expressed his gratitude for all those involved in the project’s progress — from the project committee to campus leadership to UCR Planning, Design and Construction.

Since 2015, the school’s enrollment has grown by 58% to 2,100 students in fall 2021 as both graduate and undergraduate programs have grown in popularity. Yet classroom and administrative space has remained limited at Anderson and the second floor of Olmstead Hall, providing 23,800 square feet.

“They never had a lot of space to begin with and then they’ve grown significantly so now they’re really pressed for space,” said Melissa Garrety, project planner with Planning, Design and Construction.

Anderson, one of the oldest buildings on campus, only has one 80-seat classroom, a 32-seat computer lab, and a 36-seat classroom. As a result, many classes are held in other general assignment classroom spaces on and off campus, including a movie theater at University Village. As of July 1, the campus no longer has use of the movie theater.

The new building will have 38,500 square feet of assignable space within 63,400 in total gross square feet.

Its features include two 80-seat classrooms; a 350-seat auditorium; a computer lab; a studio to record podcasts, lectures, videos, and other media; study areas; a student lounge; 20 faculty offices; 59 administrative offices including one for the dean; a faculty and staff lounge; an executive meeting room, and group meeting rooms.

The facility will include state-of-the-art technology for hybrid learning where lecturers can deliver multi-media lectures that can be recorded and streamed.

A variety of outdoor spaces for student and faculty use as well as school events have also been incorporated into the design, campus architect Jacqueline Norman said.

“This design really makes creative use of the topography to create outdoor spaces at different levels that give the school a lot of flexibility in how they use them,” she said.

The new building will centralize School of Business classes and activities.

“We were motivated to create through design a home base for the school and to activate this area of campus, making a place where people will want to come and spend time and hang out,” Garrety said.

Outdoor features, such as seating areas, will help create connections to Anderson so it feels like one precinct, Norman said. It will set the tone for the south campus area that is expected to see future growth in the coming years, she said.

“We really wanted to set a precedent with ensuring that the building and the pedestrian connections in and around the building allow for easy movement to what will be future buildings to the east and west,” Norman said.

The campus faced challenges with the project budget over the past year with dramatically rising construction costs due to the pandemic, inflation, and supply chain issues. It was originally budgeted at $55 million and is now budgeted at $87 million. Projects over $70 million require approval from the Regents, which led to last week’s vote. The project is paid for with campus funds, including School of Business resources, and bond financing.

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