Shop Talk: Canadian Land Deal, Dead Shopping Malls, a Retirement, and More

Making a deal: Canadian University College has struck a deal to allow the town of Lacombe, Alberta, to build much-needed affordable housing on 300 acres near the campus. “CUC had a more lucrative offer from a private sector developer for the 300 acres,” The Lacombe Globe reports. “But instead, CUC opted to go with the lesser lucrative land deal with the town because it had a vision for long-term community sustainability and specifically addressed the need to create a range of housing options across all income levels.” The newspaper referred to a report on the deal, saying that “had CUC gone with the private developer who could have opted to ‘land bank’ the land, Lacombe could have ‘found itself in the position of being landlocked and unable to grow to the north. Ultimate control of Lacombe’s development in this area would have rested in private hands rather than with the municipality.’”

Dead mall: The former site of a shopping center, acquired by Arizona State University in the 1980s, sits empty, despite redevelopment plans that have been around for about 20 years. “University officials say there are no plans on the horizon, or even just over the horizon, for doing anything with the site where once there were high hopes for an exciting development that would link Mill Avenue with the university and would provide ASU with a beautiful and useful gateway to the campus,” The Arizona Republic reports.

Job opening?: Jon Hlafter, university architect at Princeton, is retiring after 40 years at the university. “Since his appointment as director of physical planning in 1968, Hlafter has played a significant role in shaping the University’s appearance and ambiance,” a news release notes. “During his tenure at Princeton, the University grew from roughly six million square feet to more than nine million square feet.” Officials at Princeton are in the final round of interviews for his replacement.

Investing in students: British colleges are investing in new campuses and buildings to remain competitive and keep postgraduate students from going overseas, according to an article in the Guardian.

Real-world experience: Biomass Magazine reports that sustainability students at the University of Minnesota at Morris are getting hands-on experience with the biomass plant and wind turbine on campus as part of their studies. “It’s been fun to see how having [the wind turbine and biomass plant] on campus has inspired students and faculty to ask different questions, and initiate different research,” says Troy Goodnough, the campus’s sustainability coordinator.

Sustainability trouble: Sustainability studies at the University of New Mexico are threatened, according to the Daily Lobo.