Samuel Merritt University is gearing up for the biggest move in the health care school’s 116-year history. Its new $240 million downtown Oakland campus will open in January, in one of the city’s biggest economic investments since the pandemic.
SMU will bring 2,000 in-person Oakland students and hundreds of faculty and staff to a massive building at 525 12th St., potentially adding customers to downtown businesses and restaurants after a drop-off of foot traffic due to remote work. The school is moving from 3100 Telegraph Ave. in Pill Hill.
“The No. 1 job growth (sector) in Oakland is health care,” said Dr. Ching-Hua Wang, the university’s president. “We’re going to be the anchor institution. We’re going to be the engine for workforce development in health care.”
The new building — 10 stories and 260,000 square feet— will have state-of-the-art classrooms, offices and labs including a cadaver anatomy lab. It also includes a virtual reality center and space for motion analysis research…