As Purdue University interviewed potential master planners for a live-work-play, community-within-a-community concept for west campus, bidders at the Indianapolis-based Browning Investments set out to find similar plans for reference.
They found university-driven developments of 20 acres and ones valued in the millions of dollars. But the sheer size and scope of the self-contained campus community Purdue had in mind – 450 acres and dreams of $1.2 billion in private investment – stumped them.
“I don’t think there’s a great analogous project out there,” said Adam Chavers, Browning’s senior vice president. “Believe me we looked, because we thought it was an important consideration as we were competing for this business. And one of the things we liked is we didn’t find one.”
On Monday, Purdue Research Foundation hired Browning to lead development over the next 15 to 20 years of what’s known as the Purdue Innovation District, a stretch of west campus from the antiquated apartments of Purdue Village – once known as Married Student Housing – to Purdue’s new aerospace district west of the new U.S. 231.
The plan calls for a mix of housing, commercial, entertainment and industrial developments. It was prompted in large part by the three-year, $120 million State Street Project, a collaboration between Purdue and West Lafayette meant to calm traffic through campus and encourage investment in West Lafayette. Purdue President Mitch Daniels has promoted Purdue’s role with State Street and west campus designs as quality-of-life initiatives that will make Purdue more competitive in the academic market.
"If residential higher ed is going to retain its appeal to the best faculty and students, it will have to offer attractive settings for living, recreation and successful business neighbors,” Daniels said Monday. “We don’t know of a comparable town-gown collaboration like ours along State Street, which we hope with the adjoining innovation district will provide the foundation for a next era of growth and prominence for Purdue."