Cincinnati City Council's Economic Development Committee will consider a zoning change today that could pave the way for a new academic complex on the campus of Xavier University.
The Hoff Academic Quad, to be built along Ledgewood Avenue between Dana Avenue and Bellarmine Chapel, will create a new main entrance to campus and will consist of a multi-purpose Learning Commons, a new facility for the Williams College of Business, a new central utility plant and parking and greenspace improvements.
The rezoning would change the property from residential and manufacturing use to
institutional-residential.
The Evanston Community Council voted to approve the change on January 16, and the Cincinnati City Planning Commission approved it on February 1.
At the heart of the 9.5-acre quad, the Learning Commons will provide Xavier students with a high-tech, highly social educational environment that will include:
- Magis Plaza, the technological hub
- Center for Student Excellence
- Center for Teaching Excellence
- Center for Community Engaged Learning
- Institute for Jesuit Education
- Information Resources Center
- Renovations to Alter Hall and University Library
The new business school will house new classrooms, a trading room, a data-mining laboratory, a studio for taping and reviewing sales presentations and centers for business ethics, entrepreneurship and investment research.
Funding for the project will come from To See Great Wonders: The Campaign for Xavier, the university's $200 million capital campaign.
The Hoff Academic Quad is named after former Xavier president James E. Hoff, S.J., who died in 2004.
Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Sources: City of Cincinnati planning documents, Xavier University website
Imagery: Xavier University website
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