Lipscomb announces new downtown facility
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Lipscomb University officials, in partnership with Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, announced plans earlier today to open a new downtown facility.
Lipscomb University will occupy 20,100-square-feet of office space located on the ground floor of the 4th and Commerce garage, 147 4th Avenue N. Lipscomb will invest more than $3 million in capital improvements to transform a ground level space that has sat empty for more than a decade. The university recently signed a 12-year lease with Eakin Partners for the space.
“Our vision for this corner right here is a vision that involves an epicenter for change in this city, not only here in Nashville, but also around the globe, said John Lowry, vice president for development and external affairs at Lipscomb University who will oversee the facility. “We hope that through the resources of Spark, the leaders will have access to knowledge and skills that they need to tackle the many difficult issues ahead and seize upon the incredible opportunities that are before us.”
The facility will be patterned after the university-operated Spark: Lipscomb’s Idea Center located in the Cool Springs area in Franklin. In the downtown Spark facility, Lipscomb will offer academic programs and leadership development initiatives as well as meeting and event space. The College of Leadership & Public Service’s graduate studies in public service and the university’s competency-based education program housed in the College of Professional Studies are among the academic programs that will be offered at the downtown location. The Well Coffeehouse will open its third location in Lipscomb’s downtown facility, and Story Brand, a marketing company created by New York Times best-selling author Donald Miller, will move its staff there to use the resource. Renovation is expected to be complete by January 2017.
“We look forward to talking about how we can participate with Lipscomb to train the leaders in the public sector as we go forward, because we need that in metro,” said Barry. “I think we sometimes forget that Metro is a $2.1 billon business with 10,000 employees, 27 departments and 60-70 boards of commissions. It is a complicated business and we need leaders who understand beyond just an MBA but the importance of that public service component and we are going to be able to have that behind us (with Spark). I also look at that building and am so excited that it is going to become a wonderful, new, active corner that will meet its neighbors in a way that creates a warm and welcoming place.”
At the downtown location, Lipscomb University will also offer undergraduate and graduate classes in areas such as business, technology, leadership, counseling and education. As a leader in competency-based education, Lipscomb will also bring its unique solution for adult learners, that allows them to earn academic credit for their experience making it easier for them to complete a college degree, to the site.
Expanding Lipscomb’s offering to locations outside the university’s campus located in Green Hills is a natural fit for the institution.
“I’ve said for 11 years at Lipscomb, the city is our campus and the world is our classroom,” said Lipscomb University President L. Randolph Lowry. “Nobody gave us permission to claim the city, but the reality is when we recruit students, frankly, we sell the city as much as we sell the university, and I don’t know which one they always come to, but when they get here, they are going to see that there is a vital, exciting city, and a vital exciting university, and somehow together that makes an excellent education.”
“It is going to be the most innovative educational space in Middle Tennessee,” he continued. “It will have absolutely the latest technology, the latest ways to collaboratively learn, and it will be available to businesses and government downtown.”
Mayor Barry, President Lowry and John Lowry made the announcement at a ceremony on Tuesday, May 17, on the SunTrust Plaza, located across the street from the space that Lipscomb will occupy. Ralph Schulz, president and CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; Tom Harwell, director of leasing and marketing for Eakin Partners; Rob McNeilly, president and CEO of SunTrust Bank for Middle and Eastern Tennessee; and Joelle Phillips, president of AT&T Tennessee, also spoke at the announcement ceremony.
In 2012, Lipscomb successfully launched its first Spark facility in Cool Springs. Spark integrates people with architecture, technology and expertise for the purpose of inspiring creativity, fostering dialogue and enhancing collaboration. Each year, more than 5,000 people experience Spark and Lipscomb has now become the leading provider of graduate education in Williamson County with more than 150 students pursuing a master’s degree or graduate certificate at Spark.
-Lacey Klotz also contributed to this story; photos by Chris Netterville; video by Josh Shaw