SMU named sole finalist for Bush Library

Austin Business Journal - 9:35 AM CST Friday

Southern Methodist University in Dallas will house the George W. Bush Presidential Library, provided the final negotiations proceed smoothly.

University officials confirmed that they and the George W. Bush Presidential Library Site Selection Committee are entering the "next phase" of discussions for the library. No other potential sites pitched to the committee are in the running.

Baylor University in Waco and the University of Dallas in Irving were in contention. SMU has been considered a front-runner because First Lady Laura Bush is an alumna and a member of its board of trustees.

Chris Wallace, president and CEO of the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce confirmed that the University of Dallas has been told it was out of the running for the library.

"It's not a final deal, but they are entering into negotiations" with SMU, he says.

In February the Dallas Business Journal reported that SMU bought a shopping center on the eastern side of campus, Expressway Tower, a 15-story, 195,000-square-foot office building and had two other nearby properties under contract.

At that time it was expected that between $200 million and $350 million in private funds would be needed for the project. More recent speculation has put a $500 million price tag on the library.

SMU is a private university in Dallas that has about 11,000 students enrolled. The school's main campus has 86 buildings on 210 acres along Mockingbird Lane and Hillcrest Avenue off of North Central Expressway.

SMU may not be the only one developing the land set aside for the Bush Library.

The University of Dallas, city of Irving and Southwest Premier Properties together own the 300 acres of land that had been set aside for the Bush Library. The trio is currently reviewing proposals from two organizations, Forest City Enterprises of Cleveland and Newland Communities LLC of San Diego, to develop that land.

Forest City Enterprises, based in Cleveland, is an urban real estate developer with several high-profile projects under way in the Dallas area. It is redeveloping downtown Dallas's Mercantile Bank building into an apartment/retail project. It also plans to build a 2,100 acre community in the Collin County town of Prosper.

Both of the companies have submitted interesting proposals and "we can't go wrong with either one of them really," Wallace says.

One of the two will be chosen to develop the land and a decision could come as early as mid-January, he added.

"It's going to be a redevelopment area that's going to be greater than what's around there now in terms of the end of the day," Wallace says. "It's definitely something to focus on in the next couple years."