Skip to content
  • Saturday, June 25, 2022

UNK News

Be Blue, Be Gold, Be Bold

  • Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Photo Galleries
  • Athletics
  • Contact Us
  • New Frontiers
  • Home
  • 2020
  • December
  • 4
  • Regents approve regional engagement center at UNK’s University Village
College of Arts & Sciences College of Business & Technology College of Education News Student Life University Village

Regents approve regional engagement center at UNK’s University Village

December 4, 2020
Tyler Ellyson
Post Views: 4,906
A 49,000-square-foot Regional Engagement and Alumni Center will be built on UNK’s University Village development. The $15.6 million project is expected to be complete in summer 2022.
A 49,000-square-foot Regional Engagement and Alumni Center will be built on UNK’s University Village development. The $15.6 million project is expected to be complete in summer 2022.

New facility will include meeting, office space for university, businesses, public agencies

By TYLER ELLYSON
UNK Communications

KEARNEY – The University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved a project Friday that will connect academics, government and business while strengthening Kearney’s role as a regional hub and portal to greater Nebraska.

The board voted unanimously to support a public-private partnership that will add a Regional Engagement and Alumni Center to the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s University Village development.

Chancellor Doug Kristensen called the $15.6 million project a “centerpiece and anchor” for University Village that will attract talented students and faculty to UNK, bring new businesses to the city and benefit employers across the state.

“As we prepare to develop the Regional Engagement and Alumni Center, it’s clear that it will be a linchpin of University Village and future development,” Kristensen said. “This building will serve as a destination and gathering place for central and western Nebraska and beyond to engage the university and community on a variety of issues that are critical to the region.”

UNK’s new Regional Engagement and Alumni Center, upper left, will be located directly west of the Village Flats residence hall in University Village.
UNK’s new Regional Engagement and Alumni Center, upper left, will be located directly west of the Village Flats residence hall in University Village.

The Regional Engagement and Alumni Center is planned as a two-story, 49,000-square-foot facility to be located directly west of the Village Flats residence hall. Under the plan approved Friday, completion will be in summer 2022.

It will feature meeting, conference and public gathering spaces designed to accommodate both large and small events, as well as state-of-the-art technology capable of connecting people from across the world through virtual meetings and presentations. The building could host career fairs, campus and community events, lectures, public hearings, government meetings and countless other engagements.

The first of several office buildings planned at the 104-acre University Village development, the Regional Engagement and Alumni Center will also serve as a destination for professional firms, public and private agencies and nonprofits looking to lease office space in central Nebraska.

UNK will own and occupy approximately 24,000 square feet, and the UNK Alumni Association and University of Nebraska Foundation, currently located at 214 W. 39th St. in Kearney, will also call the building home. Other tenants will be announced as lease agreements are finalized.

This colocation opens the door to expanded educational and experiential learning opportunities for UNK students while introducing businesses to a large pool of potential employees.

“The Regional Engagement and Alumni Center will elevate the university and our partners,” Kristensen said. “It will inspire and connect visionaries in Kearney and across our great state in meaningful and impactful ways.”

UNK is partnering with developer Josh Berger of Elkhorn on the project. A private equity investment led by Berger is investing approximately $5.1 million in the private portion of the project – office and mixed-use spaces that will complement the UNK space. Berger will oversee construction of the entire project.

“The collaboration between the university and private industry is essential in the development of University Village,” said Jon Watts, vice chancellor for business and finance at UNK. “To realize efficiencies in coordination and ensure execution of the University Village vision, the university selected Josh Berger as a critical partner to develop, finance and oversee the project from beginning to end.”

UNK’s share of the project costs is expected to be about $10.4 million, which covers the university’s space and all shared or common areas. That funding will come from an internal lending program.

Located along U.S. Highway 30 south of UNK’s main campus, University Village is a mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood featuring residential, retail, academic, recreation, community engagement and service industry facilities.

Village Flats, a 99-unit, apartment-style residence hall, opened there in summer 2018 and the LaVonne Kopecky Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center followed in fall 2019. Construction started this fall on the $48 million Element 30 housing project, a partnership between UNK and Grand Island real estate developer Scott Rief. UNK and the city of Kearney are also working together to build an indoor tennis complex that’s expected to open in early 2022.

Tags: Board of Regents, Doug Kristensen, Jon Watts, Josh Berger, Kearney, Regional Engagement and Alumni Center, University of Nebraska, University of Nebraska Foundation, University Village, UNK, UNK Alumni Association

Post navigation

PHOTO GALLERY: UNK Dance Program presenting Student Dance Workshop
University of Nebraska libraries launching new online catalog/discovery tool

Submit News

Submit story ideas for unknews.unk.edu

UNK Campus Update Newsletter

UNK Campus Update

Most Read Posts

  • Marsha Yeagley retires from full-time teaching, but she’s ‘never done working’
  • Showing June 9 in Kearney, ‘The Last Prairie’ highlights Nebraska Sandhills region
  • UNK adds cybersecurity, business education to MBA program
  • ‘I landed my dream job’: UNK graduates design luxury homes for famous clients
  • Unique partnership allows CCC-Kearney students to live in UNK housing

Photo Galleries

Events Featured News Photo Galleries

Photo Gallery: University of Nebraska at Kearney New Student Enrollment Weeks 1-2

June 14, 2022
gottulatm
Events News Photo Galleries Student Life

VIDEO & PHOTOS: UNK Pride Month Celebration

June 10, 2022
Erika Pritchard
College of Arts & Sciences College of Business & Technology College of Education Commencement News Photo Galleries

PHOTOS: UNK Spring Commencement 2022

May 13, 2022
Erika Pritchard
Events News Photo Galleries Student Life

UNK Spring Block Party draws large crowd

April 29, 2022
Erika Pritchard
Log in
Copyright © 2022 UNK News
Theme by: Theme Horse
Proudly Powered by: WordPress
Cleantalk Pixel