Here's a first glance at what UC Merced wants to look like down the road. It's searching for a development team that will help finance and significantly expand the campus’ size and capacity to enroll 10,000 students by 2020. Starting this spring, the university will issue an RFP for one or more partners, says financial and development advisor JLL. (The RFQ will be the first of a two-stage RFQ/RFP process.) The newest UC campus opened in 2005 with 875 students and has surged to nearly 6,200, creating severe space limitations on campus.

The winning development team will design and build 1.5M SF of new teaching, research, and residential facilities on a 219-acre, university-owned site adjacent to the existing campus. The university aims to have a team in place by year’s end and begin construction in 2017. It's a great example of how local and state entities are increasingly looking at public-private partnerships as a way to plug infrastructure costs and then deploy funds where they're needed most.