Under the plan, which was approved by the California State University board of trustees on Jan. 24, Geographic Network Affiliates International will build the two buildings and lease them from Cal State Hayward. Upon completion, the university could earn revenues ranging from $1 million to $2 million per year. The proceeds can go toward academic programs and construction for the new Business and Technology Center that is scheduled to open in 2004.

Construction on the 180,000-sf first phase is expected to begin by April. The facility will house the network equipment and servers belonging to a number of telecommunications carrier companies. In addition to serving the needs of Cal State Hayward students, roughly 15,000 sf of the building will be devoted to serving the students and faculty from other colleges and universities around the region and state.

School officials expect phase one to be completed by the fall. Construction on phase two, a 200,000 sf building, is expected to start before the completion of phase one.