Century Square site visit

The semester began with a visit to the Century Square site on University Drive on January 19, 2016. The architecture students were not able to attend due to schedule conflicts, but the construction science students and the land and property development students attended.

The development is intended to achieve synergy among multiple uses, including residential, commercial, office, hospitality, and entertainment facilities. Midway Companies has demonstrated in previous projects that the whole project can be worth greater than merely the sum of the individual parts. The development is not intended to be a student-centered residential community. Instead, it is meant to appeal to young professionals, empty-nesters, and others who desire a more urban, enriched lifestyle that reduces dependency on automobiles. Century Square is intended to be a regional destination for shopping, dining, and entertainment, and may also become a locus for company headquarters and offices that have relationships with the university. Its two boutique hotels will be extremely convenient to east campus activities and sport events.

Most of the construction is wood frame due to the constraints of the construction community in the Bryan/College Station area. The site is designed to create a walkable community but also incorporates streets and on-street parking. Special attention has been given to preserving some of the large oak trees, in some cases by relocating them.

Our class has been asked to design Phase 2 on property just to the north of Phase 1. We will explore how best to mix usages to further enhance the neighborhood.