Johnson & Wales University has selected the general contractor team of Rodgers Dooley to build the showcase academic center for its new Charlotte campus, which will open Fall 2004 in the Gateway area of uptown Charlotte. The new academic center will be a four-story, 145,000 square foot facility that starts at the intersection of Cedar and W. Trade streets and spans approximately 400 feet along W. Trade Street. For the first two years, this facility will serve as the hub of the University’s instruction in three colleges: the College of Business, The Hospitality College and the College of Culinary Arts. As enrollment grows, it is expected that the College of business will move into an independent facility.
“The Rodgers Dooley team is exceptionally qualified for our unique, urban campus academic center,” said Merlin DeConti, Johnson & Wales University vice president of facilities management. “They have a proven track record in managing successful university and institutional projects as well as expertise in building complex facilities in urban settings. Their long-term commitment to enhancing and serving the Charlotte community also was a key factor in our decision and matched well with Johnson & Wales’ vision and operating philosophy.”
Johnson & Wales expects to break ground for the academic center in February 2003. Architect LS3P is completing the final stages of design of the center. As currently planned, each of the four floors will be about 33,000 square feet. The first floor and mezzanine levels will contain four bakeshops and a chocolate laboratory that will face the sidewalks along Cedar and W. Trade streets. Also on this floor will be a 200-seat auditorium, with a production kitchen, demonstration area and a dining room.
The second floor will be designed to accommodate up to 1,444 culinary students and house additional culinary laboratories, faculty offices and support areas. The center’s third and fourth floors will house the Hospitality and Business Colleges, and will contain classrooms, seminar rooms, computer labs and associated faculty offices and support areas.
“We believe Johnson & Wales University will be a tremendous regional jewel,” said Pat Rodgers, principal-in-charge of RodgersDooley. “We’re extremely excited to be a part of the team and to build a facility that will be enjoyed by generations of students and this community for years to come.”
“Johnson & Wales is an exceptional educational institution and will have an enormous long-term impact on our region,” Rodgers added. “We take pride in our success in building in urban settings in Charlotte and throughout the Carolinas. The academic center will have sophisticated technical services and is a challenging project we’re looking forward to getting started on.” Rodgers Builders and RT Dooley are established Charlotte-based general contracting firms that have formed a strategic alliance to pursue special construction programs, such as the Johnson & Wales academic center project. The firms have worked throughout the Southeast U.S for a combined total of 65 years.
Johnson & Wales University