AASU
Expands Campus to Provide Academic Space, Professional Development
Building
Savannah,
GA—February 18, 2004—Armstrong Atlantic State University
(AASU) will expand its campus to include 18 acres of land located
adjacent to the university and across from the Savannah Mall. The
property will provide much needed space for academic classrooms, academic
support offices, and a facility for the expanding professional and
continuing education program.
AASU Educational Properties, Inc. (EPI), a sister entity to the AASU
Foundation, purchased the land for $7.5 million. The land includes
Publix and Shops at the Savannah Mall. After appropriate renovation,
EPI will lease the shopping center to the university.
"It can take 10 years or more for a university to get a new building
through the state's funding and construction process," said Steve
Green, president of EPI. "This purchase provides the fast-growing
university with a creative solution to meet its critical need for
space."
Enrollment growth is expected to continue at a rate of nine percent
per year over the balance of this decade. With this rate of growth,
the university expects an enrollment of well over 10,000 students
by the year 2010.
"This additional space will allow Armstrong Atlantic to better
serve its students, the city of Savannah, and southeast Georgia,"
said Thomas Z. Jones, president of AASU. "This expansion will
provide much needed instructional space for the campus, and a professional
and continuing education conference center on the Southside.
The 65,000 square-foot building, currently occupied by Publix, will
feature academic classrooms, academic support space, technology labs,
and a a professional and continuing education conference center that
will include a mid-sized auditorium, ballroom, multiple meeting rooms.
The building also will include a facility for plant operations. The
other space at the shopping center will become available to AASU as
the leases of the retail center's existing tenants expire.
The university plans to significantly expand educational programs
and offer a broad array of community-based services. "The new
facility fits in with Armstrong Atlantic's strategic mission of becoming
a total community resource," said Leary Bell, vice president
of external affairs at AASU. "It will provide a dedicated home
for the delivery of these programs and services."
EPI will grant AASU a 25-year lease for the shopping center and will
give all properties to Armstrong Atlantic and the University System
of Georgia at the end of the lease.
