College Planning & Management

JUN 2012

College Planning & Management is the information resource for professionals serving the college and university market. Covering facilities, security, technology and business.

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while creating a wonderful retail gath- ering space for the neighborhood and region. The renovation of the campus theatre is continuing the momentum and the creative buzz. The community recognizes and values the commitment to quality. 7. Don't rule out using a private developer as a partner. Private developers bring fresh ideas, creativity, perspective, entrepreneurialism, talent, and private capital. There was strong resistance by Bucknell to using a private developer. In the end, the University leveraged the developer's talent and capital to realize its vision. Bucknell realized a better result because it used the private developer. Radnor's involvement in the projects precipitated healthy, dynamic discussions on programming, design, fi nancing, and construction, forcing everyone to think outside of the box. 8. Do something. Bucknell had been de- bating doing something downtown, but nothing happened. Pursuing outside funding forced the University to focus its planning. And strong visionary leadership moved the process along. But the logjam was broken when the University fi nally realized it had to do something with the state funds or lose them. The bookstore project signaled that Bucknell was serious about down- town development, making the projects that followed easier to initiate and for the community to accept. 9. Embrace change. The biggest obstacle to the Bucknell Lewisburg Community De- velopment efforts was the status quo: A community that was generally comfort- able with how it looked and a University that saw no compelling reason to do something different from what it had been doing for generations. Investing in the downtown, pursuing third-party fi nancing, and using a private developer were all new territory for Bucknell. It is to Bucknell's credit that, in this instance, it chose to do something different. In the end, Bucknell opted to imagine the possible. And it made all the difference. CPM Brian C. Mitchell formerly served as presi- dent of Washington and Jefferson College and Bucknell University. At both institu- tions, he led signifi cant facility development projects on campus and in the community. He is a recognized leader on college/campus collaboratives. David Yeager is president and CEO of Radnor Property Group, a real estate development company located in Wayne, PA. Radnor has been involved in campus and community development projects for a number of private and public colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. JUNE 2012 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 65

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