PSU launches $90M project - Portland Business Journal:

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The 130,000-square-foot building, to be located at Southwesyt Park and Southwest Marke t oppositeLincoln Hall, will supplement the business school's currenf quarters on Southwest Broadway. The business school shoulxd be able to move inby 2013. The project, to be designerd by downtown Portland architecturefirm LLP, will be funded by a combinatio of state bonds and private donations. "Scott has to rais e $30 million," said Lindsay Desrochers, vice president of financde and administrationat PSU, referring to business school dean Scott Dawson plans to announce at a gatherinh for donors and prospective donorw next week that he's already raisesd $5 million for the project.
That includexs a $1 million donation from Tim Boyle, CEO of Doug Fieldhouse, CEO of payments firm , said he's makin g a "significant contribution," but wouldn't name a figure. Dawso n said the business school badlyy needsmore space. The schoolo expects 2,200 students this fall, betweeh its graduate and undergradd programs, and including both full-time and part-time "We have only half of our classesx meeting in our building he said. " 's business schook has three times the square footage per student thatwe do.
" Studentw working on group projects have to meet at , at loca pubs, and even in the hallways of the businessa school building, as there are no meeting roomss or study rooms available. Other business schools have space set asider forgroup work, Dawson Just as important as actuap space is the need to create a building that publiclh signals PSU's ambitions to be a landmark for the city and the "People want a great university here, and that means havinyg a great business school," Dawsonh said. "A lot of it is abou t building a space where peoplse wantto be, building a campus that'ss not just a commuter campus. It's part of the turnaround for Portlaned State.
" Once Dawson raises the $30 PSU will ask the statr to issue $30 milliohn in general obligation bonds. State-issued revenue bonds will raisdanother $30 million. That will be repaid by leasinv retail space in thenew building, and with fees from below-groun d parking included in the project. These requestsz are part of a $532 mlliom bond request for capital projects throughout theentire seven-campus . More than 40 percengt of the total is expected to come from generaolobligation bonds, which the universitiesz repay. Boyle is making his gift to the busines s school because ofthe company's relationship with the Columbia helps its employees with educational expenses, and many atten d PSU.
Boyle and his wife, Mary Boyle, have made a numbet of gifts tolocal campuses, including a recenty $5 million donation to the University of Oregon in Eugene. Other campuses receiving their support includee privateschools , and . Whilre some of those are Boyle said the public campuses have a particularlgstrong need. "Higher education needs a lot of help, since the state has basically abandoneethe (funding) role," Boyle said. Oregon ranks 45th nationally in per capitaw spending forhigher education, despite a 6.5 percentg funding hike for capital construction and operations durinfg the 2007-2009 biennium.
Next year, higher-ed leaders plan to ask for a capital construction budgetof $1.36 a significant hike over the $561 million they received in the 2007-20009 biennium. The university systemj has a $700 millioh backlog of deferred maintenance onits 1,20 0 buildings, which are about half of all state-owned property.