The University of Memphis has plans for campus expansion and renovation over the next five years that will remake the look of the campus. And it intends to pay for these changes with a new plan recently approved by the Tennessee legislature.
Under the master plan, which the school is mandated to complete every five years, the school lays out its current and future needs, along with plans to develop the campus to suit the needs of faculty and students.
The Tennessee Higher Education Committee recommended the plan for approval in November 2006 to increase research program activities, improve classroom and lab space and increase residential and parking space to relieve the The U of M's expected 10 to 15 percent enrollment increase.
In order to pay for the campus master plan, The University obtained approval from the state legislature for a $7 million financing plan, making The U of M the first school in Tennessee's history to have its master plan and means of paying for it approved.
In a press release, The University of Memphis spokesperson Curt Guenther said the master plan is "the foundation for the campus' physical future."
U of M President Shirley Raines also said in the press release, "The master plan is our active road map in becoming one of America's great metropolitan research universities."
The University will pay for its plans with a bank acquisition line of credit.
Under this plan, The University's line of credit is $7 million, which gives The U of M "the opportunity to have the space available to carry out the master plan," said Teresa Hartnett, Director of Administration and Business Analysis. "It is a line of credit guaranteed by the state to allow The University to purchase property around The University."
However, the school is only allowed to buy property, at market value, near the campus that is already in the school's campus master plan.
Then The University will lease the property and use the revenues to repay the state over the next 10 years. However, the account will be refilled if the properties are used for "University growth projects" the statement said.
Hartnett said The University already owns about a dozen rental properties in the area, with plans to acquire 50 more over the next three to five years. She said the typical size of these properties is "not very large," generally single family homes.
Most of the land The University will buy is between Central and Southern Avenues and near or on Patterson, according to a University statement.
Charles Lee, Vice President for Business and Finance, said also in a statement the new plan is win for everyone.
"The University achieves its growth goals more efficiently," he said.
"Our neighbors will see the results we promised more quickly, and the state gets a good return on tax dollars."
