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SALT LAKE CITY — A new hub for entrepreneurial activity will soon be found on the University of Utah campus.
Lassonde Studios, a new housing option for students, aims to foster the entrepreneurial spirit with the slogan “Live. Create. Launch.” The $45 million building combines a residential hall with resources to help students start their own businesses.
A recent report from Businessweek spotlighted the new hall and said the current design “blurs life and work the same way technology giants Facebook and Google do at their headquarters.”
“If you have an idea at 2 a.m., you want to be able to get up and act on your idea,” building designer Mehrdad Yazdani told Businessweek.
The groundbreaking for the building is scheduled for October, with the goal of having students move in for the fall semester of 2016. The 20,000- square-foot building will have 400 beds.
The development of Lassonde Studios is being sponsored by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, which is part of the David Eccles School of Business. The goal is to have students from both undergraduate and graduate programs live there.
The garage on the first floor will be open to all students. There will be space for students to work together, hold events and use prototyping tools like 3D printers, according to the school.
Pierre Lassonde, an entrepreneur with an MBA from the U., and others donated $13 million to help with the building costs. The rest of the costs will be covered by rental income, according to a statement from the U.
