North Campus Corridor Industry Co-location Development

Case Study

In an effort to create the kind of campus spaces in which K-State can partner with established public and private sector partners while having a physical nexus to campus, collaborations can be expanded, and companies can take advantage of close proximity to NBAF, K-State and the Manhattan community are creating the North Campus Corridor, a 4-mile stretch of streets that make up the north edge of the Kansas State University campus.  This will be a place that will be fitting of the university’s global leadership and reside on the campus north edge alongside both College of Agriculture and College of Veterinary Medicine research facilities and research land as well as the future National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF). The North Campus Corridor cultivates national, state and industry collaboration to solve some of the world’s most pressing questions. New facilities built in this corridor will benefit and be able to leverage the extensive resources and capabilities of Kansas State University and existing partners. Anchored by the $1.25B National Bio and Agro-defense Facility and K-State’s Biosecurity Research Institute, the Corridor serves as the physical nexus of a plan that establishes Kansas, the region, and the university as the destination for the world’s established food and animal health companies and global food systems-related research and educational talent. The City of Manhattan, Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, Kansas State University, KSU Foundation, KSU-IC, and K-State Athletics have partnered to develop plans and financing strategies to make the corridor visions a reality. The KSU Foundation has taken a leadership role in developing 56 acres that make up the K-State Office and Research Parks, providing office and build-to-lease lab space for established companies, state and federal partners that advance Kansas State University. In addition, the public infrastructure investments in the corridor will create a vibrant neighborhood for the public. The area described is currently a high vehicular traffic thoroughfare for the community, but also has large sidewalks that are heavily used for pedestrians as running or biking trails. The streetscape, however, is unattractive, dilapidated and dangerous to cross because of the high vehicular traffic, especially on K-State Athletics gamedays. The vision for the corridor is to enhance the pedestrian experience via the addition of streetscape and landscape (trees, iconic kneewalls and gateways/entry features), as well as enhance the safety features for pedestrians (crosswalks, medians, bus dropoffs).

Finalist Presentation

UEDA Awards of Excellence Finalists presented at the Annual Summit in Milwaukee on October 22 and 23, 2018. Summit attendees then voted for the best initiative in each category.