The new retail center Panther Plaza will be located at 36190 Owens Road at the intersection of Owens Road and E.N. Norris Road, and adjacent to the recently constructed Phase VII Student Residences in the southeast corner of the campus.  The purpose of the retail center is to provide entertainment, shopping and services to the students and staff of Prairie View A&M University and to the community of Prairie View, Texas.  Additionally, the new retail center will provide opportunities for entrepreneurs to start and establish a new business in the community. Working with a committee of PVAMU administrators, the designers of OC+Architects refined the design of the retail center to include two buildings on each side of a partially covered outdoor plaza and facing Owens Road. The 16,570 square foot building on the west side of the courtyard will house a bowling center and support spaces including a food court with a kitchen, serving counters and seating for approximately 110 guests.

The  bowling  center  features  ten  lanes  with  Brunswick  GSX  Pinsetters,  Anvilane  Pro-Lane Package with computerized Vector Keypad Scoring and LCD overhead scoreboards and Brunswick’s Vector Plus Management System.  The bowling center is designed to accommodate NCAA bowling tournaments with traditional lighting, and boutique style bowling featuring Brunswick’s Omni Lighting and Effects Package that includes LED feature lighting, wide beam and star burst laser lights, edge to edge full lane glow with glow pins and fog or hazer machine. Video systems will include two lane wide motorized projection screens above the pinsetters with programming delivered by five overhead projectors and a programmable audio system.

The partially covered courtyard area features landscape planters and paved areas for site furniture.  Audio/Visual programming originating from the Bowling Center will be available for patrons in the plaza.  Access to the plaza area while the retail center is closed will be controlled using overhead coiling grilles and ornamental steel gates to the north and south ends of the plaza.  The 7,520 square foot building on the east side of the plaza includes a 3,600 square foot restaurant with seating for approximately 65 diners.  The balance of the building will be four   retail store spaces open for business leasing.

Both buildings are constructed with concrete tilt wall panels and steel framing.  Exterior walls will be finished with a combination of the campus standard brick veneer and an exterior finish system including feature bands. The buildings feature entrance towers on the north and south elevations with standing seam metal roofing, matching the standing seam metal roofing on the exposed steel structure over the plaza between the two buildings.

The retail center includes concrete paved drives and  parking for  119  cars, with  a  21  foot  high  monument sign  at  the Owens Road entrance to the retail center.  Site development work includes landscaping and landscape irrigation, site lighting and a concrete sidewalk connecting the Phase VII Student Residences to the retail center.

The  site  infrastructure, site paving  and  building  shell  is  presently  being  constructed  by Morganti, an international construction firm with its US Southwest Regional Offices located in Houston, Texas.  Building shell construction is expected to be completed early summer 2014; and the interior build out construction will begin late summer 2014. Panther Plaza construction completion and ready for occupancy date is January 2015.