COLLEGE STATION, Texas – (Realty News Report) – Texas A&M University has broken ground on a $250 million mass timber experiential learning hub. The sustainable-design building, located across from Kyle Field football stadium, will also serve as the university’s new visitor center.
The three-story Aplin Center will transform hospitality, retail and marketing education when it opens in 2028. The nearly 212,000-SF building, which will use timber sourced from Texas sawmills, is named for Buc-ee’s travel center founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, who contributed $60 million toward the project.
Beaver Aplin is Giddy
“I’m just giddy about being able to do something to give back,” Aplin said. “I’ve never seen anything like what we’re creating here.”
Designed by DLR Group and Pickard Chilton, Aplin Center will feature a U-shape design using glue-laminated columns and beams, as well as cross laminated timber floor and roof panels. It will take more than 3.5 million board feet of timber sourced from Texas sawmills to complete.
Mass timber projects, which have a lower carbon footprint than traditional concrete and steel buildings, are gaining traction at schools, office buildings, and corporate campuses. Walmart’s new headquarters under construction in Bentonville, Ark. Is the largest mass timber project in the nation.
Aplin Center will house immersive learning labs for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Mays Business School with areas for fermentation, dairy, meat science, coffee, floral design, enology, product development kitchens, retail, and an on-site restaurant run by students. The visitor center, currently located in Rudder Tower, will incorporate a 170-seat theater and 70-seat multipurpose room upon relocating to the new building.
“The Aplin Center will expand the horizon for education at Texas A&M,” Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement. “It will serve as a premier laboratory for innovation where generations of dreamers and doers can learn. I want to thank Beaver — who gave us Buc-cee’s, the largest convenience store in the world — for providing students with experiential learning facilities to foster the next generation of hospitality and retail innovators.”
Constructing with Timber is Like Taking 2,000 Cars Off the Road for One Year
With mass timber construction, wooden components are used extensively instead of concrete and steel, the savings can be significant. In the construction process, timber generates around 50 percent lower CO2 emissions than concrete. In addition, timber delivers a higher insulation value. In terms of carbon capture, a timber building has a negative carbon imprint equal to taking 2,000 gas-powered cars off the road for one year.
Aplin graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in construction science in 1980. Since founding Buc-ee’s in 1982, he has grown the chain to 54 travel centers in multiple states. The brand is known for its Beaver mascot, clean restrooms, and abundant selection of snacks, gifts, and other merchandise.
The new building is going up on the site of a parking lot at John Kimbrough Boulevard and Wellborn Road. Mature oaks on the eight-acre site will be incorporated into a communal green space.
“I want visitors’ jaws to drop when they walk in the front door — actually even before they get to the door,” said Aplin. “The curb appeal of this center will be incredible, and every step they take toward it will build. When they get inside, we won’t let them down. It’s going to be even better.”
Oct. 7, 2025 Realty News Report Copyright 2025
Rendering courtesy Pickard Chilton
Mark Your Calendar
Central Houston will present the State of Downtown 2025 on Oct. 30 from Noon to 1:30 p.m. Some 1,000 business and community leaders will focus on progress in the heart of the city. NBC Sports soccer analyst Tim Howard, a Hall of Fame goalkeeper, will deliver remarks as Houston prepares to host the 2026 Fifa World Cup Games. The State of Downtown event will be held at the 713 Music Hall at the historic POST Houston, 411 Franklin St. For information: click here.
CommGate will host its Economic Outlook –Wednesday, Oct. 15 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Houston Country Club. Economist Ted C. Jones, PhD, will present an economic forecast examining trends that will shape the real estate market in the coming year. Following the presentation, connect at a networking social with beverages and hors d’oeuvres. Free for members of CommGate, CCIM, and SIOR. Non-members $50. For information: click here.
Minnette Boesel, a Houston preservation leader, will speak on the revival of Downtown’s Market Square area at the Heritage Society’s Speaker Series and Wine Reception on Tuesday, October 7, at 6 p.m., at 1100 Bagby Street. For information: click here.
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File: Mass Timber Building Breaks Ground at Texas A&M Aplin Mass Timber Building Breaks Ground at Texas A&M Pickard Chilton Beaver Walmart Buc-ee’s