ASU purchases building near White House for East Coast operations
Mar 18, 2018, 10:54 AM
(Arizona Board of Regents Photo) Craig and Barbara Barrett with ASU President Michael Crow and ASU Foundation CEO Grechen Buhlig
(Arizona Board of Regents Photo)
PHOENIX — Arizona State University has purchased a building just two blocks away from the White House in Washington, D.C. to consolidate its east coast programs.
The building was called the Barrett & O’Connor Washington Center, after former Surpreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and ASU alum Barbara Barrett.
Barrett was a U.S. ambassador to Finland and helped fund the renovation of the center with a gift from her and her husband Craig Barrett, former CEO of Intel Corp.
ASU President Michael Crow said he is looking forward to the advanced academic opportunities being so close to the White House can offer.
“Being located in the nation’s capital means ASU is better positioned to contribute our ideas, energy, research and talents to solving some of the biggest challenges facing our nation and the world,” Crow said.
The school had been leasing buildings in D.C. for programs such the McCain Institute for International Leadership and for the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
A new think tank called the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership, the Center on the Future of War and the Global Security Initiative will also be consolidated in the new eight-story, 32,000-square-foot building.
The building was purchased by University Realty LLC with help from a $35 million tax-exempt bond sponsored by the city of Tempe. University Realty was part of a program created to generate revenue for ASU in 2016 called ASU Enterprise Partners.
