Higher ed institutions, excluding community colleges, report capital improvement plans to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) each summer. The THECB in turn submits them to the Bond Review Board. The plan titles, locations and costs are finally posted in a report at the THECB website.
Any project worth more than $1 million is submitted, but projects are often estimated at tens of millions of dollars.
Projects listed in the report include:
- New construction
- Restoration or renovation
- Infrastructure
- Additions
- Land acquisition
- Information resources
- Leased space
The latest THECB report posted online is for the years 2022-26 and includes 895 projects totaling $29.8 billion. They are almost one-third new construction and almost half repairs and renovations planning. Information resources projects comprised about 1 percent, down 10 percent from the prior year, and many are already underway. The total for IR was projected at $436.3 million overall.
Institutions included in the reporting are public universities, health-related institutions, state colleges and technical colleges.
The highest potential spender in the last posted report is the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, listing projects totaling more than $7 billion. These include a South Campus education building at $275 million and a cancer network site replacement at $27.5 million, both slated for 2023 start dates.
Following are a few universities’ planning for large-scale new construction underway or potentially underway in the coming year:
University of North Texas (UNT), Dallas, plans a STEM building at a cost of $163 million and 115,000 gross square feet. The recently closed request for proposals (RFP) for construction manager at risk describes the space as containing “highly flexible teaching spaces” including labs, classrooms, administrative space and gathering areas. The building will serve 4,600 students and has a projected completion of fall 2025.
University of Houston lists a new residence hall at a cost of $135 million and site improvements to the IDEA Lab for $132 million.
University of Texas (UT) at Austin plans to build a $155 million residence hall, but with a long list of projects slated, UT Austin’s total for 2022-26 was projected at $3.6 billion. The list of potential projects spans more than two pages.
UT Dallas is continuing its master planning with its student success center underway, and upcoming projects include two science lab and office buildings at $130 million each.
UT El Paso is in the early stages of building its Advanced Teaching and Learning Complex at a cost of $95 million. The university just closed a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a construction manager at risk and states the building will include collaborative learning spaces for STEM and STEAM programs.
Not all project funding or planning is at fruition; in fact, some projects are not yet funded or have yet to go to any bid process. Vendors seeking more details can find them at most university websites, at the Texas SmartBuy website and multiple online tools such as Industry Navigator.*
*Industry Navigator is a division of e.Republic, the parent company of Industry Insider — Texas.
