At a Glance

Sector:  Higher Ed / Hospitality

Location:  Reno, NV

Delivery:  Public-Private Partnership

Scale:  128,000 SF Academic Facility + Hotel

Certification: LEED Gold

Result: Delivered On-Schedule and On-Budget | P3 Bulletin 2024 Best Higher Education Project

The Situation

The University of Nevada, Reno had a problem it had been unable to solve on its own. Its College of Business, the university's largest and fastest-growing degree program, was operating out of a 1970s building that was obsolete in nearly every way. The space couldn't support the program's growth, lacked the resources students and faculty needed, and put the university at a serious disadvantage against its competitors.

But the building was only part of the challenge. The university's most prominent edge, the blocks between campus and downtown Reno, had become a liability. Run-down houses, liquor stores, dive bars, and seedy motels lined the blocks that served as the university's front door. For years, the university had been quietly purchasing and demolishing these properties to gain control of the land, but hadn't yet determined the best path forward.

Even if they had, the university's internal facilities team was stretched thin. Key staff were nearing retirement, and the capacity to deliver a project of this scale and significance through traditional methods simply was not there. The university needed both a vision and a partner who could execute it.

University President Brian Sandoval, the former governor of Nevada, was determined to make it happen. He saw the university as an engine for economic development in Reno, and he wanted a building that would make a statement, not just for the College of Business, but for the city and the state. He needed a partner who could match that ambition and actually deliver on it.

How We Got Involved

The university had put out an RFP looking for development teams who could reimagine the block, with the College of Business as one component and an open brief for complementary commercial development. We responded with a vision that paired the academic building with a university hotel, intended to transform the most visually prominent block on the campus edge into a gateway connecting the university to the city and the outside world.

The university selected our team, and from that point the question was not just what to build, but how fast it could happen.

The Process

The approach we used on this project was built around one core principle: if the university's leadership wanted to move quickly and have a real impact, they had to be directly involved in the process.

We established what we called the Executive Design Review, a structured series of working sessions held every two to three weeks in Reno. President Sandoval attended, along with the provost, the dean, the CFO, and the other key decision makers. Over the course of two to three hours, with lunch served, we would walk through the project together, presenting options, discussing tradeoffs, and making decisions in real time.

The format was straightforward. Here are your options, A, B, or C. The group would discuss, debate, and decide. Sometimes the answer was B. Sometimes it was something between B and C. The important thing was that the people with the authority to make decisions were in the room, engaged with the work, and ready to move forward.

That process allowed us to move through design and planning at a pace the university had never experienced. From the day they told us they had a need to the day we broke ground, one year had passed. The university had previously estimated that this phase would take three to five years. 

What Made It Work

Speed was a byproduct of the process, not the goal. What made the project work was the alignment that the process created and the quality of the partnership behind it.

This was not a single-purpose project. The College of Business needed a world-class home. The university needed a facility that signaled where it was headed as an institution. And the city of Reno needed to see that its university could be a real catalyst for the revitalization it has been working toward for years. Our approach was built to address all three from the start. Every decision throughout the process was made with all of those dimensions in mind.

It helped enormously that university President Brian Sandoval was a true champion for the project. He understood what it could mean for the university and for Reno, and he was willing to invest his time and be in the room when decisions needed to be made. That kind of client leadership, paired with a process designed to put it to work, is what allowed this project to move at the pace it did and deliver the results it did.

The Result

The Mathewson Gateway was delivered on schedule and on budget, a first for the University of Nevada, Reno on a project of this scale. The five-story, 128,000 square foot College of Business, now officially named the John Tulloch Business Building, features a 300-seat auditorium, advanced technology labs, a finance suite and trading lab, case-method optimized teaching spaces, a student commons, collaboration zones, and a landscaped courtyard with outdoor plazas.

The building has exceeded expectations by every measure. It is widely considered the nicest building in the state of Nevada, and has set a new standard for design and construction quality in the region. It has become the most popular building on campus, hosting everything from student clubs to university events at a pace that even the most optimistic projections did not anticipate.

The project also made a significant impact on the local economy. More than 70 percent of the project value was contracted to Northern Nevada trade partners, with 23 local subcontractors and more than 1,500 workers involved in the two-year construction effort.

Most importantly, the project accomplished exactly what President Sandoval set out to do. It transformed the university's front door, signaled a new era for the institution, and strengthened the connection between campus and city in a meaningful way.

Recognition

The University of Nevada, Reno Mathewson Gateway Project has received the following awards:

• P3 Bulletin — Best Education and Higher Education Project (2024).

• P3 Bulletin — Social Impact Award, for the project's transformative impact on the local community (2024).

• Over 70% of project value was committed to Northern Nevada firms, with more than 1,500 workers and 75 companies involved.

In their evaluation, the P3 Awards judges noted that achieving commercial and financial close within 12 months demonstrated exceptional project management and stakeholder coordination, and commended the project's sustainability focus and significant impact on the community.

The Bigger Picture

This project is a reminder of why we do this work. The University of Nevada, Reno was an institution being held back by facilities that no longer served its mission. Its leadership had a bold vision but no clear path to realizing it through conventional means.

What we helped build was more than an academic facility and hotel. It was the beginning of a transformation for the university, for the surrounding district, and for the relationship between a campus and its city. When you drive by this building, you cannot miss it. And for a community that has spent years working to change how the world sees Reno, that matters.

Projects like this are what keep our team so energized. The chance to help an institution reach for something it could not previously achieve, and to see what happens when the right buildings, delivered the right way, begin to reshape the relationship between a university and its city.