The 20-acre area we call home
College Park District represents the shared vision of UT Arlington and the City of Arlington to breathe new life into the downtown area and create a true college town environment.
The $160 million development spans more than 20 acres and includes a broad range of amenities, with the University's College Park Center as its focal point. Also included in this massive mixed-use development are The Green at College Park, an urban oasis and green space for the University community, as well as a residence hall, student apartments, retail stores and restaurants, a new University welcome center, and an 1800-car parking garage.
College Park
UT Arlington broke ground in fall 2010 on College Park, a residential and retail development that underscores the strong ties between the University and its downtown neighbors. The $80 million project features a residence hall wrapped around an 1,800-vehicle parking garage with street-level retail and office suites south of UTA Boulevard, between Pecan and Center streets. It also includes a campus welcome center, a satellite campus police station, and 81 apartment units. Expected to open in summer 2012, the development will provide housing for about 600 students.
The City of Arlington has committed up to $18 million toward the project, while First Baptist Church-Arlington provided 1.5 acres toward the parking structures. Downtown Arlington patrons will be able to access the parking areas for major events, and the First Baptist congregation will be able to use the spaces on Sundays and other periods when they need them most.
The mixed-use development is designed to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver standards for energy and environmental efficiencies, including a solar panel system funded by a $2.2 million Texas State Energy Conservation Office grant.
The Green at College Park
In 2011, the University opened The Green at College Park, a 4.62-acre green space north of Mitchell Street on Center Street. The site is intended as an inviting oasis for students, neighbors, and friends to gather and relax. Designed with sustainability in mind, it features a large lawn, a curved stone wall that offers seating, and paving materials made from recycled bottles that will allow water to permeate, as well as native grasses, adaptive plants, and a dry creek bed that will help manage rainwater and storm water runoff that drains into Johnson Creek.
The Green is among only 150 sites worldwide that will test the first-ever rating system for green landscape design, construction, and maintenance. The system is a project of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), a group formed to promote sustainable land development and management practices. SITES partners include the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at UT Austin, and the United States Botanic Garden. SITES selected the UT Arlington campus landscape project based on its extensive environmentally friendly elements, according to the organization.
The Green at College Park was designed by Schrickel, Rollins, and Associates of Arlington, Texas, and is a joint project between the city of Arlington and UT Arlington. Construction of the $2.8 million green space was funded almost entirely through a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
Center Street Trail
Along the east side of the College Park District runs five blocks of the city's Center Street Trail system, which provides vehicular, pedestrian, and bike access to points of interest in Arlington, including the University, the downtown area, Levitt Pavilion, and many more.
