At its first meeting of the school year, the Michigan State University Board of Trustees approved a new sports arena in South Neighborhood, the construction of a laboratory building for students in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and renovations to Anthony Hall.
Here’s a roundup of the board’s actions.
New arena in South Neighborhood
Development in South Neighborhood keeps on coming.
The board authorized MSU administration to proceed with planning a mixed-use development that will principally feature a 4,000 seat arena to host regional competitions in the Big Ten Conference. The proposed facility would be directly adjacent to the new student wellness and recreation center currently under construction.
That arena is being built to keep pace with most of MSU’s Big Ten peers, which already have venues capable of hosting the regional competitions required as part of the Big Ten’s recent expansion. The university has not yet announced which sports will be played in the arena.
“Absent a new facility, we would likely not be able to have home competition on regular basis,” the resolution said. “This would put us at a competitive disadvantage.”
Portions of the 14-acre plot not taken up by the arena “could include buildings to support academic programs, a hotel to augment the Kellogg Center, mixed-use retail/office/housing, market rate housing and parking to serve the site,” the resolution said.
President Kevin Guskiewicz said during the meeting that he was “inspired by the untapped potential” of the property set for development while on a run in March, and believes it can become a “dynamic hub of innovation.”
The resolution says funding for the project will come from event revenue and donor contributions, but stipulates that developers will be “provided an opportunity to finance the arena if it improves the project model.”
New plant and environmental sciences laboratory
The board approved a new laboratory and research building for the Plant and Environmental Sciences program.
Construction on the new building, which will be located at the Northeast corner of Farm Lane and Wilson Road, will be substantially completed in January 2027. It will have four floors plus a basement and penthouse, according to the board proposal.
The $200 million project will replace the aging Center for Integrated Plant Systems building and support research facilities that will attract leading scientists, according to the board proposal.
New roof for Anthony Hall
The board approved a $560,000 renovation project for the roof of Anthony Hall.
The current roof system, which was installed in 1955, will be replaced with new slate shingled sloped roofing, new gutters and downspouts, and insulation, according to the board proposal.
The new roof will better insulate the building, eliminate water intrusion and prevent ice from clogging the gutters or falling on pedestrians.
Lansing lease for Child Development Lab expansion
The university received approval from the board to purchase a lease for building space in Lansing as part of an expansion of the Child Development Lab, a program in the College of Social Sciences.
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The CDL, which currently has locations in East Lansing and Haslett, functions as a daycare and early-learning center for pre-kindergarten age children where MSU students are trained in early childhood education and conduct research on child development. It has received just over $4 million in state and federal appropriations combined.
Funding for the lease agreement will come from a “combination of external, College of Social Science, Department of Human Development and Family Studies/Child Development Lab, Provost and other potential grant funds,” the board resolution says.
Leasing to MSU Research Foundation
The board authorized the university to lease five additional acres to the MSU Research Foundation, which the nonprofit will use for a new headquarters.
The MSU Research Foundation, which is associated with the university but not owned by it, invests an endowment in companies contributing to Michigan’s economy and provides grant funding for research programs at the university.
The foundation’s headquarters will be adjacent to a parcel of land at the corner of Crescent and South Harrison roads that it leased from the university in 2019. Under that lease, the foundation developed the headquarters for the web design company TechSmith, which was previously located in Okemos.
“The Foundation envisions a new facility adjacent to TechSmith in East Lansing that will serve as a hub of research, innovation, and commercialization,” the resolution said. “The facility and extensive programming within will drive the growth of and collaboration with science companies within the MSU ecosystem.
