Commercial Redevelopment of Downtown Campus
Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The main campus resides on 24 acres in the East Raleigh-South Park Historic District in downtown Raleigh. Shaw also owns and operates a 35-acre farm located on Rock Quarry Rd. Historical buildings, which either currently (Estey Hall) or previously (Shaw Hall) reside on campus, were designed by the famed Raleigh architect George S. H. Appleget and feature a Second Empire and Italianate architectural styles. Other architectural styles present on campus are Leonard Hall, a twin-turret Romanesque Revival style building, and several buildings featuring Brutalist style architectures.
Sector: Higher Education
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Shaw University embarked on a comprehensive plan to redevelop its downtown Raleigh campus.
To revitalize university facilities, diversify revenue streams, reinvest in the neighborhood and improve connectivity to downtown Raleigh.
Our team interviewed key university stakeholders and collaborated with leadership to confirm program and project objectives. This clear understanding of financial, facility and student life goals are driving the project.
Using relevant data from a range of industry sources and public planning documents, we determined the current economic and market conditions around each proposed development site. This analysis assisted our team in understanding the mix of uses and the estimated market value of each site at its highest and best use and informed recommendations to the university
Leveraging our initial analysis as well as additional research into zoning, easements, covenants and other development constraints helped our team to support the development of a rezoning strategy designed to provide the university with additional density and development flexibility. As part of this effort, we also crafted a high-level conceptual masterplan to guide financial analysis.
Our team estimated residual land values for several potential campus redevelopment scenarios. We are currently working with the university to identify potential transaction structures and delivery methods as the university prepares to solicit for development teams.
