Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, has bought a 560,000-square-foot complex in southeast Travis County to be the future home of a trades-focused campus.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that the community college district is paying $130.5 million to acquire the former home of Bergstrom Tech Center, just west of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
The site will become the district's second largest campus by square footage. It will house the Infrastructure Academy, which will train students for jobs created by the city’s $25 billion in infrastructure projects.
The community college had planned to build its own facility for the campus; construction would have taken five to six years. Buying an existing building saves taxpayers about $100 million, Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart said.
“It’s a win-win in terms of being efficient and effective,” Lowery-Hart said. “It will allow us to serve our community more immediately… it’s a big moment.”
In 2022, voters passed a $770 million bond package with 70% approval to build campuses in southeast and southwest Travis County, increase student support and expand programs aimed at workforce development in growing industries like semiconductor manufacturing, health care and welding.
The new campus will house the college’s skilled trades program, which were previously housed at the college's Riverside campus.
