Marble staircases. A water fall. A “museum” mapping out High Point University’s history.
As the Nido & Mariana Qubein Arena, Conference Center and Jana and Ken Kahn Hotel complex marches toward a September completion, the features and finishes might make you think it’s poised to compete with the region’s top hospitality venues.
But Nido Qubein, the university’s president, said competing with other arenas, hotels or convention centers is neither its design nor mission. The goal, he said as he guided Triad Business Journal on a tour Friday, is to provide experiential learning.
“We are a premier life skills university, so we have to ensure they are learning life skills,” Qubein said. “If you’re a hospitality major, how much better is it for you to have a hotel and restaurant and a conference center?”
Consider it a classroom like no other, and one that Qubein expects to help tremendously in growing the university’s enrollment, which is currently 5,600.
“You cannot find another place in the country that has an arena that looks more like a fine arts center, that has a hotel in it, that has a conference center, all in one,” Qubein said.
The investment is in keeping with the strategy the Triad has witnessed since Nido Qubein began his presidency in 2005. Under his leadership, HPU has expanded its campus from 92 acres to 500, invested $2 billion in facilities and has ten times the number of campus buildings.
With the fifth-largest enrollment of the Triad’s 13 colleges and universities and an estimated statewide economic impact of $765 million, High Point University has made significant developments in the past decade and a half. The arena, conference center and hotel span a collective 300,000 square feet and cost $170 million, of which Qubein himself gave the lead gift.
This project is a part of a prior major transformation, not the 10-year, $1 billion growth plan unveiled in 2019. But once complete, HPU will have completed $500 million worth of construction.
“Not your typical arena”
The arena and conference center broke ground in 2018 with Samet Corp. and The Christman Co. as the general contractors.
The 4,500-seat arena will not only be home to the university’s men and women’s basketball teams but will also host major events, concerts, entertainment, academic and recreational activities.
The arena is oval shaped, which means there’s “not a bad seat in the house,” Qubein said, as opposed to how basketball arenas are traditionally shaped in a rectangle.
“It’s not your typical arena for basketball,” Qubein said. “It’s much grander. We’re thinking of all the uses for this place … For just basketball, we could not possibly justify this.”
The grander experience includes a marble staircase, a waterfall with lights, two panther statues, wooden panel ceilings and a 16-by-10-foot American flag made of fiberglass that gives the illusion of being in motion.
The walls of the arena’s lower level will act as a “museum,” displaying the history of the university and the city, as well as a backlit map of the numerous buildings that have been added since 2005.
University classes with a focus on sports management, including one course taught by Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynthia Marshall, HPU”s sports executive in residence, will be held in the arena.
“Think of this place not as an arena; it’s a center that is all-encompassing,” Qubein said. “People think, ‘well, I’m going to a basketball game.’ No, you’re going to an experience.”
“All-inclusive” conference center
With the ability to seat 2,500, the conference center will not only provide space for undergraduate and graduate organizations but will also look to provide space for community organizations.
The main open floor plan can be divided into small venues and will have state-of-the-art lighting, sound and video presentations.
“It’s not just intended to be for a one-person lecture; it’s intended to be all-inclusive,” Qubein said.
The conference center has six separate rooms that can hold about 100 people. The university is also talking with community partners about the potential for community concerts.
“We’ll also host here events for North Carolina independent colleges (and universities). We’ll host some economic things for the Piedmont Triad Partnership,” Qubein said.
“We want to be a Triad participant… in all kinds of ways.”
“Experiential learning” hotel
The Jana and Ken Kahn hotel can accommodate 60 guests and will enable students with hospitality and event planning majors to host executive groups, alumni, students, families and school counselors.
The hotel, at three stories and overlooking Vert Stadium at HPU, will not be open to the general public.
The hotel includes Alo, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant that will seat about 100. The restaurant requires reservations to attend, a dress code and students who attend will practice etiquette skills during their meal.
The restaurant will be akin to 1924 Prime, located inside the Wanek Center on the HPU campus, which first opened in 2009.
Currently, the hiring process for the hotel manager and the head chef of the restaurant is underway.
Qubein said the hotel is not meant for tourists visiting High Point, but rather strictly to accommodate parents or guests of the university. “Otherwise, we would have made 150 rooms,” Qubein said. “But this hotel is intended to (give) our students experiential learning for hospitality.”
Qubein said the university isn’t looking to add on to the 500 acres of land it has acquired and also doesn’t feel the need to eclipse this current project.
“Everything has a purpose,” Qubein said. “You have to be congruent with your mission, values and purpose.
“We don’t do anything without the students in mind. We’re an academic institution. This is nice, but if it doesn’t tie to academics, what have you done? It’s malpractice.”