Alberta’s provincial university campuses are prime grounds of opportunity for partnerships with the private sector, developers are being told.

As well as being major economic engines for the province, campuses are also ripe for new growth, say university officials.

Don Hickey, vice-president of facilities and operations at the University of Alberta, joined Roman Cooney, vice-president for external relations at the U of C, to speak to real estate and development executives at a session during the Calgary Real Estate Forum last week.

The U of C, Cooney noted, is in the middle of building the new children’s hospital on its west side, while the health region and the university’s medical faculty are linked on projects such as the new hospital in the city’s south.

The city’s rapid growth has been reflected on campus, which now sports 50 portable units.

“We’re not an island. We cannot develop and grow except in the context of what’s around us,” Cooney said.

Together,Alberta’s four provincial universities boast almost 100,000 people, including students, staff and faculty, as well as revenue of $1.57 billion and capital assets of $1.74 billion.

Universities used to be dependent on the provincial government for money. Today, they draw on several different funding sources, with only about half their revenue coming from the province.

Speaking hypothetically, Cooney said a new P3-built (public-private partnership) residence would have to reflect both a student’s experience of university life as well as cost value. “On the other hand, should we be property managers, or educators and researchers?”

Hickey agreed, saying the universities’ prime responsibility is teaching and research. “Everything else is in support of that,” he said in a later interview. Hickey noted that the mature main campus of the U of A also has potential P3 opportunities.

There are three projects on the main campus going through the provincial approval process for P3 opportunities. The projects include a science centre, a joint-venture health science centre with the Capital Health Region, and a research transition facility.

INNER CITY PROPOSAL
Major changes for a landmark site in the northern inner city moved a step closer last week with approval of new development to replace the Days Inn Calgary West, which has yet to be sold.

The hotel at 1818 16th Ave. N.W. was formerly called the Highlander.

The Calgary Planning Commission approved a Home Depot store on the west side of the site, townhouses on the northeast part and parking in the southeast, said Dory VanDonzel, an architect at BKDI Architects.

She stressed that final approval of the mixed-use comprehensive plan still has to come from city council, and is a couple of months away.

The proposal includes 16 to 20 townhouses.