Site work and new construction of a mixed-use development in College Station, Texas. Completed plans call for the construction of a 75,000-square-foot educational facility; laboratory facility; office development; and theater / auditorium.

https://assets.system.tamus.edu/files/fpc/pdf/Subcontracting/Sept2026.pdf 06-3339 Project Description: Meat Sciences & Technology Center $133,359,906 Meat Science + Technology Center totals approximately 75,300 gross square feet (GSF), which translates to approximately 45,200 assignable square feet (ASF) at 60% efficiency. The new facility is programmed to provide Agrilife with the a modern, state-of-the-art processing capabilities to support the next generation of food safety, processing, and nutritional quality research in Meat Science. Research, education, and extension will be supported through a variety of meat science laboratory spaces to process meat at each stage of the practice from harvest to packaging. These hands-on, experiential laboratory spaces will be supplemented with an auditorium, classroom space for training, and a seminar space. Office space will be limited to provide on-site, flexible space for graduate students and hoteling offices for faculty when on the premises. A retail outlet will provide a public storefront to sell products developed at the Center. To provide a comprehensive facility, outdoor space is included to support animal evaluation and handling. Allotting approximately 85% of the assignable square footage to direct education and research spaces, the new Meat Science + Technology Center is programmed to launch a new phase of growth and leadership in food product safety, quality, and nutrition. Delivery Method: Construction Manager at Risk Architect/Engineer: Kirksey Architecture A/E Contact: Skye Smith SkyeS@kirksey.com General Contractor: Skanska USA Building, Inc. Contractor Contact: Ben Johnson Subcontractor Bidding: Ongoing Substantial Completion: May 3, 2028 ben.johnson@skanska.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article315947707.html The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents passed the capital plan for Fiscal Years 2027-31 at last week's quarterly meeting in Kingsville, providing funding for 20 construction projects that were in the planning stages. The total funding for the 20 projects is $1.45 billion. Those 20 projects brought the total number of projects in planning, design or construction across the A&M System to 86 projects totaling almost $6.2 billion based on information provided in the regents meeting agenda book. The A&M System has 31 projects in construction totaling $2.5 billion, 20 projects in design totaling $1.1 billion and now 35 projects in planning including the 20 that were approved last week. The 35 projects in planning total $2.4 billion. "The Texas A&M University System is growing because Texas is growing, and this capital plan reflects our responsibility to prepare for the future while preserving what matters most," board Vice Chairman Jay Graham said in a statement following the meeting. "From restoring the historic Academic Building to expanding in Fort Worth and strengthening research and workforce training across Texas, these projects are long-term investments in the students, communities and future of our state." The projects are spread across the state from as far north as Canyon in the panhandle to Brownsville on the Rio Grande. College Station leads the way with 27 projects followed by Bryan with nine. College Station has five projects in construction, eight projects in design and 14 projects in planning including 10 that were first approved last week. "These facilities are more than buildings," Chancellor Glenn Hegar said in a statement. "They are places where students prepare for their futures, where research solves real-world problems and where our universities and agencies serve the people of Texas every day." In College Station, the five projects currently under construction are the Central Utility Plant (CUP) Generator Replacement project; the Clinical Veterinary Teaching and Research Complex; the Aplin Center; the new player development center at Blue Bell Park; and the Meat Sciences and Technology Center. Of the five under construction, the CUP Generator Replacement is closest to completion with a scheduled end date of early January 2027. The player development center at Blue Bell Park is scheduled to be completed by mid-January 2027. Outside of College Station, work continues on the Texas A&M Space Institute in Houston which will have two large training floors designed to replicate the surface of the moon and Mars. Completion of the Space Institute is expected to be this fall. Projects in design at A&M include a new Biology Teaching and Research Building, Satellite Utility Plant 1 expansion, a third building for the Mays Business school and a West Campus learning commons. Plumbing riser replacements for Fowler, Hughes and Schumacher halls are also in the design phase. Renovations that are in the design phase include Building 1041 on the main campus which will house a small-animal gastrointestinal laboratory as well as renovating the first floor of the Medical Sciences Library and the exterior of the Academic Building. The renovation of Building 1041 was added to the design phase at the November 2025 regents meeting. The Academic Building restoration was upgraded to the construction phase at the regents meeting last week with work scheduled to begin in July. Projects in planning for College Station include an $80 million renovation to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park; $30 million for the HEEP Laboratory Building renovations; $135 million for a vivarium on West campus and an unspecified amount for a vivarium on East campus. Another $220 million is earmarked for an Engineering Education and Research Complex. Other projects in planning for College Station include a new Poultry Sciences center, a parking garage on Discovery Drive, expansion of the cyclotron institute which was approved at the February regents meeting and the VetMed Animal Housing Facility. Other renovation projects in planning at College Station include the second floor of the Medical Sciences Library, sixth floor of the Annex and upgrades to the HVAC on the second floor of the Reynolds Medical Sciences Building. Also in planning is a project to replace the chillers in the Satellite Utility Plant 1. Bryan has two projects in construction, two projects in design and three projects in planning all located at RELLIS. Two projects in construction at RELLIS recently completed construction, the Hypersonic Wind Tunnel and TEEX training complex. The other construction projects at RELLIS still being worked on are the Semiconductor Institute and an extension of Avenue D southward. The Semiconductor Institute is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2028. Projects in planning at RELLIS are mostly infrastructure projects with the exception of phase two of the Ballistic Aero-Optics and Materials range which has a project cost of $70 million. RELLIS also has two projects in design in the form of the Water Tower and Water Well and the Bush Combat Development Center's new hangar., which was approved for construction by the board last week, a project worth $16.4 million. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article315643782.html The Texas A&M University System commenced work on its new 85,600 square-foot Meat Science and Technology Center with a groundbreaking ceremony Monday afternoon. Scheduled to open in the fall of 2028, the new meat center will replace the current Rosenthal Meat Science Center that was opened in 1983. The Rosenthal Meat Science Center is 29,538 square feet, meaning the new Meat Science Center will be three times larger than what A&M currently has for its meat science and poultry programs. Included in the new center is a 300-seat auditorium. which is larger than the originally planned 200-seat auditorium when the facility was going to be located on the RELLIS campus. "This is a long time coming. It has taken a lot of resilience to get to this point, but now it feels real," Cliff Lamb, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Director and master of ceremony, told The Eagle after the groundbreaking. "Now we are actually sure that the project is going to get off the ground. It's going to be an anchor for our ag enterprise on this side of the campus." The new Meat Science Center will be located at 3844 Finfeather Road, about two miles north of where the current center is located. In March, A&M's Board of Regents voted to move it closer to the main campus, making it easier for students to access it and to put it into a new agricultural district. One benefit of the shift in location is that the building was able to add another 10,000 square feet from the original 75,000 square feet planned at RELLIS. "The board of regents was unanimous and emotional about this. We are a pretty united group. When we talked about [the new Meat Science Center], this thing has been delayed and where we wanted it, it was united and done," regent John Bellinger said. "We all realize the value and importance of the center in educating our students and the people of Texas, the people of the U.S. and the world. The Meat Science and Technology Center is a life changer. This facility will alter the path of many students into the meat industry and similar industries." The Rosenthal building replaced the original meat lab which had opened in the back of the Animal Industries Building in 1932, just six years after the meat science program began as a course called farm meats in 1926. Jeffrey Savell, vice chancellor and dean of Agriculture and Life Science, shared some of the history of the program and where the new building fits in on that history. "Meat and poultry have been a part of Texas A&M for more than 100 years," Savell said. "These programs have prepared students, supported industry and served the public. What this building will change is not our purpose but how much we can accomplish together. In 1932, we saw the building of the Meat Laboratory. We outlived that facility and were able to go to the Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center in 1983 and we came to West Campus. It was the third building on West Campus. "There is no doubt we will accomplish so much more in this new facility. The new Meat Science and Technology Center will give our students more opportunities for hands-on learning. Our faculty and staff will have a greater capacity for innovation, and our extension teams will have more ways to share knowledge with industry and the public we serve." When it opens in 2028, the new center will include modern processing spaces, hands-on teaching laboratories, updated classrooms and lecture spaces as well as advanced research areas. There also will be a retail storefront where students and faculty in the meat science and poultry program can sell their products produced on site. The retail space is a tradition that began at the Rosenthal center. The new center, it is hoped, will provide a place of collaboration between students, faculty, staff and the meat science industry. "I began my career as an extension agent, and through that start, I learned quickly that the ag industry is not simply a sector or just the A in the A&M, but it's people. It's all of you," Susan Ballabina, executive vice chancellor of the A&M System and expected to be named university president on Wednesday, said prior to the groundbreaking. "From my experience, the most meaningful work happens when people and institutions align around a common purpose, and today represents just that. "That is what the Texas A&M system is built to do. We are a system in the truest sense of the word. Teaching, extension, research, all designed to reinforce one another to fulfill our land grant missions. That alignment is not accidental. It is purposeful. And when it works, the people of Texas are better for it." When the regents voted to move the planned Meat Science and Technology Center they added $18.76 million to the project bringing the total investment for the new center to $133.36 million. Mackenzie Cronin, Corps of Cadets Commander and a student in the meat science program, spoke on the possibilities of the new center. "This facility represents more than just the building. It represents the continued investment in that legacy," Cronin said. "It reflects a commitment not only to preserving tradition, which is, of course, one of the most important things here at A&M, but also to strengthening it for future generations of Aggies. So that's why I think it's pretty cool that we're getting to continue and build new things like this because this is so important to us, and we get to see it be important for future generations as well." The new meat center will still have a connection to the family of E.M. "Manny" Rosenthal, Class of '42, who the current meat center is named for. It has not been announced officially if the name will carry over to the new building. The Rosenthal family did help in the campaign to get the new Meat Science and Technology Center project moving forward. On Monday, Ashli Rosenthal Blumenfeld, granddaughter of Manny Rosenthal and co-president of her family's company, Standard Meat Company, spoke of her memories of the opening of the Rosenthal Building and her familiy's excitement to continue to partner with Texas A&M in meat science. The first million dollars for the project came from a donation from Rosenthal's grandmother and Manny's widow right before she died at the age of 99. "Roughly 40 years ago my grandfather got a big old bus and he drove all his friends and family from Fort Worth down to College Station for the grand opening of the E.M. 'Manny' Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center," Blumenfeld said. "I was probably 5 years old. I don't remember much from it, but I have an incredible picture of all of us staged right in front of the building underneath his name and I might have the biggest frown on my face that I've ever had and my brother's like literally crying. If only we had any idea what kind of impact this place would have had on our lives. "So many of you have opened up your arms and welcomed my brother and I. We are the farthest thing away from meat scientists. We have so much to thank you guys for and knowing that this legacy gets to continue is just beyond any of our wildest dreams." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.chron.com/canyon/article/meat-science-center-stays-main-texas-a-m-campus-22161687.php The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents has approved an expanded $133.36 million investment in a new Meat Sciences & Technology Center, keeping the facility on the main campus and positioning it as the anchor of a future agriculture district. The investment adds $18.76 million to the previously approved project, and shifts its trajectory by moving it from a planned site at Texas A&M-RELLIS to West Campus, where it will be built along Finfeather Road and integrated into the university's long-range plan for development. "This is exactly where this program belongs," said Robert Albritton, Chairman of the Board of Regents. "At the center of campus, at the center of our mission, and at the center of an industry that matters to every Texan." The Board's action amends the A&M System's capital plan, increases the project budget and approves additional construction scope tied to the new location and supporting infrastructure. "This isn't just about a building," said Glenn Hegar. "It's about putting agriculture where it belongs, front and center, and making sure we're preparing students to lead in an industry that feeds this state and this country." Facility will anchor future agriculture district Originally planned for the RELLIS campus, the facility will now serve as a cornerstone of a future agriculture district on West Campus, bringing one of Texas A&M's most hands-on, industry-facing programs closer to students, faculty and partners. "Texas A&M AgriLife is already the nation's most comprehensive agricultural program and home to the largest agricultural college," said Jeffrey W. Savell, Ph.D., vice chancellor and dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "This agriculture district ensures we use that scale to deliver solutions that matter -- advancing agriculture not just in size or reputation, but in impact for Texas and the world." Texas A&M's meat science program, housed within the Department of Animal Science, dates back to 1926 and has long been a national leader in meat production, processing and food safety. The new center will strengthen the teaching, research, extension and industry engagement for the meat science program in addition to the Department of Poultry Science. At approximately 85,600 square feet, the center will provide the updated labs, classrooms, processing space and public-facing capabilities to support teaching, research, extension and industry engagement across both the meat and poultry industries. "This facility allows us to reimagine meat science for the next generation," said G. Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. "By integrating advanced technologies, we are expanding research capacity and advancing discovery to address critical challenges across animal agriculture and global food systems." The project is supported through a mix of System financing, AgriLife Research-related revenue, private gifts and Available University Fund, AUF, resources backed by the Permanent University Fund, PUF, part of Texas' long-standing commitment to higher education alongside the Permanent School Fund, which supports public education statewide. Construction is expected to be completed in 2028 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Plans call to construct 75,000 square-foot facility to provide AgriLife, a research and educational agency within the Texas A&M University System, with modern, state-of-the-art processing capabilities. As of March 12, 2026, the project is currently in the post-bid interview process. Results should be available in the coming weeks. Construction could begin in spring 2026.