Skanska has signed a contract with the Texas A&M University System to construct the new Meat Science and Technology Center on their campus. The contract is worth $91 million. 

The new building will be a 73,500 gross square-foot facility that will provide AgriLife, a research and educational agency within the Texas A&M University System, with modern, state-of-the-art processing capabilities. 

The facility will support the next generation of food safety and nutritional quality research in meat science. It will feature an auditorium, laboratories, training classrooms, seminar spaces, and offices designed for graduate students and faculty.

Work is slated to begin in December 2025 and is expected to reach completion in January 2028.

Mapletree Investments has sold The Cottages of Boone, an 894-bed student housing community two miles from Appalachian State, in Boone, N.C. Timberline Real Estate Ventures acquired the asset for $91 million and took out a $79.4 million loan originated by Walton Street Capital.

Commercial Edge reports Mapletree had acquired the asset in 2017 through its Global Student Accommodation Private Trust fund.

Completed in 2013, the Class A community features 93 one-, two- and three-story buildings spread across 70 acres. The unit mix consists of one-, three-, four- and five-bedroom layouts, ranging from 594 to 2,054 square feet. Select floorplans also include private balconies or patios.

Common-area amenities include a fitness center, swimming pool, hot tub, clubhouse, business center and spa. The property also has a dry sauna and steam room, outdoor fire pit lounge, study lounge, computer lab, private conference room, and game room.