Learning Curve: Higher Education Projects Leading the Class

For more than three years, the construction industry has seen an upswing in higher education projects spanning from the Gulf Coast out to West Texas and pretty much everywhere in between. We see state university leadership, in particular, planning ahead as they determine if ground-up construction is necessary or if they can update existing facilities on their campuses.

As a result, higher education construction projects have dominated, especially at four-year state schools. We’re seeing a good mix of new construction, as well as the repurposing of existing facilities. To dig a little deeper, much of the activity has been in medical and nursing school ground-up construction, additions and renovations. There is great demand for qualified medical professionals in Texas, and universities statewide are making investments to keep their instructional opportunities on the rise.

I’ve seen a plethora of medical and nursing school programs and life sciences featuring high-tech lab spaces to support healthcare studies. We just wrapped up a great example of this kind of program for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Health Professions at the university’s Midland campus. The TTUHSC Physician Assistant Program is designed to train physician assistants to increase primary care access in rural and underserved populations in West Texas. (More about this project below.)

There’s also been a robust push to upgrade existing facilities. Most higher education institutions build facilities with a 100-year design life; many structures are now approaching the time frame for renovations, repurposing or replacement.

A few months back, I read a Campus Facilities Inventory Report (from the Society for College and University Planning partnering with a higher education consulting firm) stating that 84% of institutions planned to update or adapt existing facilities over the next year, 80% planned to make major updates to campus infrastructure, and 88% intended to update meeting room technologies for more virtual learning engagements. This is exactly what we are seeing in the industry. Universities are putting in the effort to update these spaces while simultaneously building plenty of capital projects to help bring in top talent and grant money.

While most of the work we’ve seen comes from four-year state universities, we are also seeing private colleges increasing demand for renovated or new space, followed by community colleges. Simply said, as a region, I think AP Gulf States will actively continue growing its higher education portfolio.

We are building relationships and doing an excellent job on our projects by providing great functional facilities while demonstrating that we have the ability to manage and produce on time. In my professional experience, I’ve witnessed projects swivel between ground-up construction and renovations, but I’ve never seen the projects dry up. These state institutions have the money allocated for projects and if they don’t use it, they often lose it.

In addition, many higher education institutions seek to renovate projects with additions to existing facilities, and that is a market we are looking to get into further. We are currently pursuing a handful of projects from several major state universities. And, here are some examples of higher education projects AP has either completed or are currently under construction:

• AP recently wrapped up the 24,800-square-foot addition and 27,264-square-foot renovation of TTUHSC’s School of Health Professions campus in Midland. The TTUHSC addition included new educational classrooms, an ADA-compliant testing space, faculty offices, an anatomy lab, multiuse labs and support spaces. One of the most intriguing features is the Gross Anatomy suite, where the physician assistant students conduct cadaver dissection and radiographic anatomy. That suite includes more than 20 anatomy workstations with overhead surgical light booms, necropsy sinks and a cadaver cooler.
• In the fall, AP will get started on another West Texas university (we can’t identify it just yet) to renovate one of the campus’ most iconic buildings. AP has a lot of experience working in spaces such as these and executing the work with minimal impact on ongoing operations. This requires significant coordination and constant communication with project stakeholders.
• AP broke ground in spring 2022 on the Midland College campus to enlarge its existing Pre-K Academy. This 60,000-square-foot, two-story structure will ultimately house the college’s growing education program, which includes a bachelor’s degree track for early childhood to third-grade teacher preparation. The project is on track to be completed later this year.

Many construction industry sectors might slow down in 2023, but I think it’s likely the higher education sector won’t be one of them. There might be a slight shift to more adaptive reuse and renovation projects, but we think they will be relatively unphased by the current financial stressors such as high-interest rates, etc. It’s an exciting ride, and I’m confident this business line will continue to grow here at AP.