Union Square Campus Promises Growth In Downtown Greensboro

A $40-million project in Greensboro may boost higher education and stimulate downtown growth. The Union Square Campus is a collaboration between UNC-Greensboro, N.C. A&T State University, Guilford Technical Community College and Cone Health, with a focus on nursing education.

The Triad Business Journal's Owen Covington has been reporting on the development. For this week's Business Report, he tells WFDD's Emily McCord that this is the first stage of a larger plan that will include retail, office and hospitality space.  

The 85,000 square-foot development is still in the construction stages. Covington says the large joint campus is expected to open next fall and will showcase a high-tech training hub. 

"It has its traditional classroom spaces, but what really makes it unique is its medical simulation labs," says Covington.

"You have your hospital rooms. You have labor and delivery rooms. They'll be working with high-tech mannequins to simulate it as best as you can, as well as environments where folks can act as patients and nurses can learn from them."

The idea behind Union Square Campus was sparked nearly a decade ago when the Greensboro Partnership wanted to identify areas of focus for strategic economic development. After hearing about a similar collaborative academic and business campus in Spokane, Washington, a group was formed called Opportunity Greensboro which laid the foundation for the Union Square plans. It raised money  from a variety of sources, including the state and the city, as well as private foundations to fund the project. 

"This will be an anchor for a larger development," says Covington. The Union Square Campus is the first project on the seven-acre development. "You can see those other pieces of Union Square at South Elm starting to fall into place once this one is complete."

The Business Report on 88.5 WFDD is a partnership with the Triad Business Journal.