RMC envisions that the second phase of the project will be composed by office, retail, and potentially apartments. The office tenants will be highly specialized tech companies competing for a highly educated workforce. The retail component is seen as an amenity for this workforce and apartment tenants. Students will have to consider effect of COVID 19 on office and apartment uses as well as the requirements that make an office building attractive to a highly educated workforce.
MBA students, teamed with Rice Architecture student teams, will build a spreadsheet to analyze the economic feasibility of the development plan. Rice Architecture students will develop responsive architectural design schemes that will be plugged into the spreadsheet by MBA students. The final projects will be reviewed by the clients and a team of faculty as well as experts in the fields of finance, real estate development, architectural theory and design, engineering and construction.