The Virginian-Pilot
©
One of the nation’s largest for-profit education companies plans to hire 100 workers and spend $1 million to open a four-year college in an office building near Town Center, city officials said Monday.
South University, a four-year private college owned by Education Management Corp., has leased 32,600 square feet and plans to open the school by next fall, officials said.
The school has begun looking for 20 workers at the new campus , said Heather Askew, a spokeswoman for the university.
The school will initially employ 100 workers – primarily faculty and support staff – with an average salary of $60,000 a year, according to its application for economic development funds. It eventually will employ 150 people.
The school will be located in Convergence IV, a five-story, 100,000-square-foot office building on Bendix Road. South University will spend $1 million to furnish the office, and Olympia Development, which owns the building, will spend about $1.6 million to upgrade the space leased by the school.
“It’s a great addition to the diversity of academic offerings for individuals looking for higher education degrees,” said Warren Harris, the city’s economic development director. “In this case, we’re fortunate that an office structure made it able for us to attract another large tenant.”
The Virginia Beach Development Authority plans to vote today to give initial approval for a $100,000 incentive grant to help the company train workers. The project is contingent on the funds being approved, officials said.
“Access to quality educational resources is critical for our citizens to successfully compete in the global marketplace,” Mayor Will Sessoms said in a news release.
The school, which has its roots in a private college founded in 1899 in Savannah, Ga., offers degree programs in health professions and nursing, along with business programs and arts and sciences degrees.
South University operates six campuses across the Southeast. Its most recent opened in Richmond in October.
Askew declined to provide specific s about plans for the Beach campus. She said the school is in the process of finalizing accreditation. A similar-sized South University campus in West Palm Beach, Fla., had about 750 students enrolled last fall.
The new university will be the second Education Management Corp.-owned school near Town Center. The company plans to open an Art Institute culinary school there by January.
Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
now that's a great image for Town Center....
for-profit diploma mills....THAT will justify the existence of a LRT stop at Town Center, huh?
Some people do nothing but
Some people do nothing but complain. The new college will be about a mile walking distance away from the TC light rail stop, not in TC. BTW, there is already a University in TC, Hampton U.
Towncenter
All you complaining...take a bus!!
Roadways around Town Center are being improved
Just wanted to remind those who commented on the lack of improvements to the roadways that surround the Town Center that the Constitution extention to Bonney Road is on schedule to be completed this summer. This will improve the flow of traffic around the town center and will take pressure off of the I264 exit onto Independence Blvd heading north and the Independence Blvd/Virginia Beach Blvd intersection. Not to mention that it will connect Constituion to Bonney near the new loction of University South.
Good and bad
The good is another college that will employ and educate people. The bad is nothing has been done about the road system in that area to handle all the traffic Town Center has generated. Now Bonney Road is going to get tied up with more of it.
Again, a lack of thinking about infrastructure on the city of Virginia Beach's part is going to cause more problems and headaches for residents.
Bright Side
I hear what you're saying Reid, but c'mon...At least they're hiring and bringing an element that's beneficial to the community. My commute takes me thru the traffic mess we call Town Center twice daily, sometimes more. I doubt this will make the traffic any worse than it already is. This is far better than hearing about people losing jobs and companies leaving the area or going out of business.
look familiar?
they just want to be like Norfolk!awsome a City dumber than Norfolk, just awsome!
(AWESOME)
This comment from someone who can't even spell awesome, wow!
Not enough parking - so, add tons of student. Good thinking.
Gee, as if traffic wasn't bad enough already - and as if available parking wasn't being removed as fast as it can be. I am glad we moved our business office away from Town Center - after 9 years in the Columbus One building.
Change
Change is a scary thing, isn't it Reid? I embrace change so long as good planning goes along with it. In this case, that is what is lacking, but I still think having a college there employing and educating more people here is a good thing.