MANHATTAN — The Kansas State University Foundation and Kansas State University celebrated the opening of the K-State Office Park on Friday, Dec. 4, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house. The new building is the first in a multiphase project that will fuel collaboration, philanthropic support and economic development in the North Campus Corridor.
On the corner of Kimball and Denison avenues, the first 60,000-square-foot building in the K-State Office Park offers a new home for the KSU Foundation and office space for corporations and industry.
“The KSU Foundation is honored to lead the development of the K-State Office Park,” said Greg Willems, president and CEO of the KSU Foundation. “As K-State’s home for philanthropy, the new space honors and celebrates our generous donors and leaders in philanthropy, and it allows the KSU Foundation to grow and sustain philanthropy for Kansas State University well into the future. This activity is central to our role as a university foundation and will be a driving force in achieving K-State’s 2025 vision.”
Equally important, the K-State Office Park will add space for corporate and industry partners. Among the first partners to be located in the office park are Garmin, U.S. Engineering, G.E. Johnson Construction, the Veterinary and Biomedical Research Center, and the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases.
“Our partners appreciate the exclusive location of the K-State Office Park,” said Greg Lohrentz, senior vice president for operations and finance for the KSU Foundation. “Beyond enjoying an on-campus location, many of these partners have the additional desire to be adjacent to organizations along the North Campus Corridor, National Bio and Agro-defense Facility, the Grain Science and Industry Complex and the animal health research facilities.”
The K-State Office Park’s first building is on the site of an office building that was originally started by the KSU Foundation in 2007 and discontinued in 2008 due to the onset of the Great Recession. The $11.5 million cost of the new building, financed through a commercial loan, was helped by using previously purchased building materials and the same footprint as planned in 2007. Pre-leasing has begun for the second 60,000-square-foot-building, expected to break ground in 2016.
“The K-State Office Park will provide space for corporate and industry partners to engage students and faculty and improve collaboration with the tremendous talent K-State offers,” said Kirk Schulz, president of Kansas State University. “Coupled with the park as an outstanding new location for the KSU Foundation, the K-State Office Park will advance every area of K-State’s strategic plan to become a Top 50 public research university by 2025.”
The KSU Foundation was established in 1944 as the official fundraising arm of Kansas State University. It is a separate, independent entity chartered by the state of Kansas as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education corporation. For information about leasing opportunities, contact Kate Ryan atkater@found.ksu.edu or 785-532-7559 or visit www.k-siteonline.com.
