PEORIA, Ariz. (Aug.
16, 2010) – Peoria is engaged in talks with Ottawa University about the
feasibility of creating a 3,000-student residential campus in Oldtown, and the
City Council will decide Tuesday night whether to make those negotiations
exclusive.
Both parties also have
been in discussions with the owner of vacant land just east of the Peoria
Municipal Campus about locating the proposed campus on the site.
The city and school
hope to develop a site plan and a construction-phasing plan – as well as an
acceptable mix of academic facilities, administrative offices, student housing
and other land uses. The plans would include appropriate square-footage
allocations and conceptual design so the parties could determine financial
feasibility. Peoria and Ottawa also plan to explore financing models and
enrollment targets to identify any land-use entitlements, community impacts and
related development issues that might need to be addressed.
Earlier this year,
Peoria completed a feasibility study and market analysis on attracting colleges
or universities to the city. The results indicate that there are multiple sites
in Peoria available for development of a campus, and that the city meets or
exceeds many of the criteria such institutions have when they consider branch
campuses.
Kansas-based Ottawa
University, established in 1865, is a non-profit institution that offers a
variety of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. It serves more than 9,000
students through its residential main campus, along with eight satellite
campuses in the United States, multiple international instructional sites and
online classes. The school has had a presence in the Phoenix area since 1977 and
currently offers classes in Phoenix, Surprise and Chandler.
