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USC secures $65 million for new business school home

June 28, 2012

Site of new Moore School construction

As concrete was poured and steel erected last week at the future site of the University ofSouthCarolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, university officials completed work of a different kind on the project — closing on a $65 million bond sale to help finance the construction.

The successful bond sale, which represents the lion’s share of the $106.5 million needed to complete the new Moore School, is essential to the school’s efforts to create a world-class home for a school top-ranked for its international business curriculum. The new Moore School will provide a learning environment that offers students the most advanced technology, while also achieving ambitious goals for sustainability.

The 250,000-square-foot project is to be built to LEED Platinum standards with a goal of being the largest Net-Zero (generating as much energy as consumed) building in the world, and will give USC more than 1.2 million square feet of new green building space.

“Continuing to attract the best and brightest graduate and undergraduate business students in a competitive educational market demands that we provide a superior learning environment,” said Moore School Dean Hildy Teegen. “The funds raised by the sale of these bonds is an essential step in achieving our goal of creating a world-class business school for both our students and for the community.”

The new Moore School, located at the gateway to the Innovista research district, is designed to encourage interaction and collaboration among faculty, staff, students and the broader community.

Throughout the building will be open spaces with flexible furnishings, outlets for technology and white boards that students, faculty, staff and others can use and adapt for ad hoc meetings or team projects. Even the large open stairwells are designed to encourage interaction.

Its innovative design will feature:

  • Energy performance targeted to be 50 percent more efficient than code
  • Solar panels for electricity production
  • Lighting systems that will be 30 percent more efficient than standard buildings
  • Air conditioning and heating systems targeted to be 40 percent more efficient than code
  • Advanced technologies, including cloud computing to reduce electrical consumption
  • An energy management system that monitors and shuts down areas and rooms not in use
In addition to the sale of the $65 million in revenue bonds, the $106.5 million project is being funded by $15 million in state institution bonds and $26.5 million from other sources, which include $15 million from the USC Education Foundation, $10 million from the USC Business Partnership Foundation, and $1.5 million in institutional funds from the School of Music for the uniquely designed performance hall.

Construction on the new building began in December 2011, and is expected to be completed in December 2013.

The current Moore School building will be renovated and leased to the U.S. Department of Justice National Advocacy Center.

The Special Higher Education Revenue Bonds sale was facilitated by Barclays Capital.  The bond term is 20 years at an all-in true interest cost of 3.48 percent.

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