In an effort to create more academic space for a mandated higher enrollment, Cal Poly Partners purchased the Mustang Business Park off Broad Street. Certain employees who don't need to interact with students will be moved into the space, clearing up more room for students on campus.
“This building will bring a lot of those administrative staff functions together and we see a lot of synergies and a lot of strategy to get those folks working together,” explained Jim Dunning, Cal Poly Partners Associate Executive Director of Real Estate and Strategic Planning.
The 46,000 square foot, two-story workspace will see a variety of groups, including administration, human resources, marketing and others, come together in a shared space.
The school's procurement office is one of the groups headed to the new building.
“I heard we were moving over there, but once I checked out the building I thought it was pretty cool and I'm looking forward to going over there," said Darin Matthews, Chief Procurement Officer. "It's much more open and a collaborative space for me and my team to work more closely with other units.”
With the help of the global architecture, design, and planning firm, Gensler, the proper employees and departments were chosen for relocation.
“They looked at our adjacencies, how we work together, which departments work together, and we're strategic about which operating units would be coming out and occupying space," Dunning explained. "It was a process of over 3 to 6 months where we really took a deep look at our operations.”
However, the move means displacement and a change in transportation for some Cal Poly employees. In an email to KSBY, one employee told me they carpool with others and with the move, that will no longer be possible.
But a project manager close to the re-location process explained that while the solution isn’t fully here, there are still benefits.
That includes free parking compared to the paid parking on campus. The project manager also said there is a possibility for state vehicles and shuttle services back to campus in the future and improved transportation routes depending on existing commutes.
“Change is hard for everyone," Dunning said. "It takes time to go through a process to understand what it means to that one individual."
The first 150 employees are set to begin work in the new building in mid-May. Dunning says the goal is to ramp up occupancy to around 300 employees over the next year at the Mustang Business Park.
