Western Governors University on Thursday announced plans to develop a new national headquarters in downtown Salt Lake City, furthering the university’s footprint in Utah.
Serving nearly 190,000 students as the nation’s largest online university, WGU currently has an office in Millcreek, but the move to Salt Lake City will mark a significant expansion effort.
The headquarters — set to become WGU’s primary office location — will largely span the block where the Sheraton Hotel is currently, between West Temple and 200 West and 400 to 500 South in Salt Lake City, and “will be developed in phases as a mixed-use innovation community,” the university said.
When completed, the full buildout should encompass around one million square feet of office space for up to 5,000 employees, as well as mixed-use elements that will be part of the redevelopment plan of the block.
“Expanding access to education that prepares people for career growth is essential to Utah’s economic success,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a statement. “By establishing its headquarters in Salt Lake City, WGU strengthens Utah’s role as a center for innovation, bringing education and workforce needs closer together and helping advance higher education for learners across the country.”
Why Utah?
WGU President Scott Pulsipher said he sees Utah and Salt Lake City — along with being parts of the school’s origin story — as the perfect place for the next phase of the university
“WGU, while being relevant locally, is also impacting things nationally, and Salt Lake City is a place that is incredibly connected to all the participants and all the partners, not only locally, but nationally,” Pulsipher said, adding the city offers a “unique foundation” for advancing the university’s mission.
Along with Cox’s backing, leaders in Utah’s capital city seem eager to welcome the university.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the university bringing its national headquarters to Salt Lake City’s downtown represents a “generational win for our economy and defining moment for our city’s innovation future.”
“With more than 10,000 employees nationwide, an operating budget nearing $2 billion annually, and the scale of a Fortune-level headquarters, WGU will be a strong anchor in our urban core,” Mendenhall said in a statement.
The new headquarters will serve as the long-term home base for the university’s employees and a “hub for collaboration” with education, industry and community partners.
“We’re excited to create a hub that builds on a vision first imagined here nearly three decades ago ... investing in Utah’s future and providing an education that creates opportunity and transforms lives,” Pulsipher said. “This is our stake in the ground for Salt Lake City, for Utah, for our students, and for the future of higher education.”