Michigan Law School Opens Third Campus

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Officials at Thomas M. Cooley Law School invested $35 million to open a third Michigan location due to growing enrollment.

The law school recently purchased a new 67-acre site in Auburn Hills from DaimlerChrysler AG, where it plans to hold classes after completing a two-phased, 133,000-square-foot renovation and expansion project.

The first phase, the conversion of an existing 65,300-square-foot building into the school’s law library, is under way and is expected to be completed in 2008.

The second phase, a 62,000-square-foot addition to the existing building, broke ground in November and is expected to be completed by January 2009. Upon completion, the addition will provide students with access to on-campus trial and appellate courtrooms, instead of relying on county and municipal facilities.

The addition will feature green design elements, including a green roof installation, energy-efficient lighting, recycled construction materials and a LEED-compliant HVAC system. Officials say the project will achieve LEED certification.

Cooley currently operates on two campuses, one in Grand Rapids and the other in Lansing. The school also shares part of a campus and degree program with Oakland University in Rochester. Officials plan to replace the Oakland University location with the new Auburn Hills site, when the first phase of the renovation is complete. Cooley students will continue to have the option of dual enrollment.