Site preparation may begin this fall on Steven G. Mihaylo Hall, new home to the College of Business and Economics, and the grounds surrounding it. A new gateway to the campus, Mihaylo Hall will be built next to Langsdorf Hall on the southeast corner near the Fullerton Marriott Hotel.

The $87.5 million building will provide a sense of place to business students, says Dean Anil Puri, with about 10,000 square feet dedicated to student spaces. It will also allow the college to have a central home as it relocates its headquarters from Langsdorf Hall. Opening is anticipated in fall 2008.

Steven G. Mihaylo Hall is named for a Cal State Fullerton business administration graduate who went from being the sole employee in a one-man shop to chairman, president and chief executive officer of Inter-Tel, a publicly traded provider of communications hardware, software and services. Mihaylo has made a $3 million pledge to the College of Business and Economics – the largest pledge of cash in the university’s history.

“We are the largest accredited business school in the western U.S., but our current facility is inadequate. For instance, 60 percent of our classes are held outside Langsdorf Hall, and half of our faculty are in other locations,” Puri says. “Besides providing the state-of-the-art technology, this new design truly meets the needs of our students and faculty, who value collaboration in their work.”

Mihaylo Hall will include a 250-seat lecture hall, as well as more than 30 modern classrooms,interactive technology, faculty offices and a networking lab. Architect for the project is Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc.

As part of the construction, traffic will be rerouted to streamline the campus’ Nutwood Avenue entrance.

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To date, the college has raised $5.5 million of the $10 million in private funding needed to fund the 190,000-square-foot building, with $53.5 million in state funds provided from Proposition 55.

“The biggest complaint our alumni have is that they came to campus, took classes and then went home because there was no place for them,” Puri said. “We want our students to have spaces to work together, as well as quiet areas for self-study. Mihaylo Hall’s central quad and the cafeteria make this a building where students will want to come and stay.”