Construction on the new Kellogg building is tentatively set to begin in May 2013, according to Megan Washburn, Kellogg’s spokeswoman.

In an email to The Daily on Tuesday, Washburn wrote the project’s start date is “contingent upon fundraising efforts.” She said the project, if it starts on time, has an expected completion date of Fall 2016.

Kellogg’s new building will be in what is currently a parking lot just west of the varsity playing fields, northeast of Kellogg’s executive education locale, the Allen Center, 2169 Campus Drive, according to University spokesman Al Cubbage.

Washburn wrote that the building’s location will “centralize management research and education activities on the Evanston campus.”

The new facility will be constructed in quadrants to maximize lakefront views, according to the Envision Kellogg website, which contains information about the project. It will feature two three-story lofts, each with moveable ceilings and floors that will allow for the reconfiguration of classroom space, along with a two-story, 350-seat auditorium with windows facing the Chicago skyline, according to the website.

In terms of meeting space, the building will contain a seminar hub with 10 discussion forums and an impact area that will hold space to televise interviews and faculty debates.

Both Washburn and Cubbage said the cost of the building is still to be determined.

“We’re in the process of finalizing the design and getting that nailed down, and when that happens, we’ll have a better cost estimate,” Cubbage said.

The building will free up space in the Jacobs Center, 2001 Sheridan Road, for an alternative use which is yet to be announced.

Cubbage said the new Kellogg building will be of great benefit to the University.

“It’s going to be a really wonderful facility,” he said.

– Jillian Sandler