Vanderbilt plans to expand its campus in the West End area of Midtown, as announced June 13 in a Nashville Business Journal article. The new “innovation district” will be largely inspired by Cornell Tech in New York and Harvard’s Allston Palace. This announcement follows the previously announced plans to create additional campuses in New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida. 

According to The Real Deal, the project will occupy several blocks around the west side of main campus that are currently occupied by parking lots and retail spaces. The district will offer spaces for research, parks, retail spaces, housing and offices for university-affiliated individuals and startups.

Although a design firm has not yet been chosen, the university plans to work with private developers. The design process could take more than a decade to complete because Vanderbilt first needs approval from Metro Nashville. 

The innovation district continues a recent trend of the university supporting startup culture in Nashville.

“Over the past year, the university has worked closely with community organizations and local civic leaders to foster opportunities for businesses, startups, investors, researchers and policy influencers to come together and exchange ideas that could take root and launch in Nashville,” a university press release reads.

Junior Aaron Wilkinson lives in an apartment complex near the planned district and gave his thoughts on the expansion.

“I don’t know how much more room there is to build,” Wilkinson said. “It’s definitely possible, but that depends on how they set it up and what kinds of businesses they invite to that place and the environment around innovation — I don’t know that there’s a clear definition for innovation at this point.”

Junior Ishan Mahajan — founder of Horus Health, a startup that automates auditing in healthcare — said he thought the expansion idea was great but would require careful navigation. 

“I think it’s important,” Mahajan said. “I just think that it’s important to take baby steps. I don’t think Vanderbilt’s at the point where it’s like Penn or Berkeley or Stanford.”

Mahajan expressed enthusiasm for what the district could do for Vanderbilt’s student body.

“I’m excited,” Mahajan said. “[Vanderbilt] is a very pre-professional school, and that’s fine, but once you start attracting new people, new high school applicants, new transfer applicants — and people are saying, ‘Wow, I can actually build something at Vanderbilt’ — I think that’s a great thing.”

Chancellor Daniel Diermeier provided his rationale for the district in an exclusive interview with Nashville Business Journal.

“We want to do it right — but we want to work with intent and pace, because we see the opportunity right now that Nashville has, that Vanderbilt has,” Diermeier said. “We’ve seen the momentum of Nashville, and we want to capitalize on that.”

The university declined The Hustler’s request for comment on the campus expansion.