University Real Estate Development

University Real Estate Development (URED) is a new area of academic and applied inquiry. The questions raised by URED projects have become more pronounced with the increased role of universities as major employers, generators of economic development, and key components of the local, national, and global knowledge economy.

Universities often engage in real estate development projects in response to a need for increased space for core activities. URED projects often displace current residents and businesses; however, the long-term impact on the university’s surroundings is often positive. URED projects are not only important as large real estate deals. URED projects outside of campuses traditional boundaries, such as those featured in this database, provide a window through which to view and analyze specific land policies in local land and property markets. The cases contained in this database combine a number of factors to provide specific cases of URED projects undertaken in the United States.

Who is this for?

This is a free database and is accessable to all, however there are four target audiences in mind with the development of this database:

• Researchers
• University leadership
• Private developers
• And public agency planners

Data Collection

Through the current (2003) US census bureau population data, all US major metropolitan regions were identified. With this data in hand, all universities and colleges were identified that are recognized by the US Department of Education and are not-for-profit, which brought the total number of eligible schools to 763. Online searches were initially used to identify potential cases and were followed up with phone interviews.