Vanderbilt University Real Estate (VURE) is the university's strategic real estate arm, managing a portfolio of more than one million square feet of commercial and multifamily properties across the Nashville area that serve faculty, students, staff, and external tenants.
VURE's mission is to address Vanderbilt’s off-campus real estate needs and support future campus growth through strategic land acquisitions, while positively shaping the university's campus borders for the benefit of both the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities.
VURE supports university’s broader mission by collaborating with Planning, Design and Construction to build and sustain the physical infrastructure that enables innovation on campus, in Nashville, and increasingly beyond.
Partnering to Build an Innovation Ecosystem
VURE and the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization (CTTC) collaborate to ensure that Vanderbilt's physical footprint actively supports the commercialization of university research and the growth of its innovation ecosystem. Where CTTC works to translate discoveries into licensed technologies, startups, and industry partnerships, VURE provides the real estate strategy and infrastructure to support startups and bring industry partners directly into proximity with the researchers and resources driving that work.
A landmark example of this collaboration is the recent recruitment of Nissha Medical Technologies (NMT) to Vanderbilt's main campus. NMT, the medical devices arm of Japan's Nissha Co., Ltd., signed a long-term lease agreement to establish it's Engineering & Innovation Center of Excellence in the former Stadium Club building on West End Avenue, becoming the first industry partner to be housed directly on Vanderbilt's campus.
CTTC's industry engagement work with Nissha's leadership helped lay the groundwork for the collaboration, which now provides Vanderbilt faculty, students, and startups, including EndoTheia, the surgical robotics company founded by VUSE faculty member Bob Webster, with direct access to industry partners, specialized equipment, and potential pathways to commercialization.
VURE and CTTC are also actively partnering to support Vanderbilt’s growing presence and programming across an expanding portfolio of locations, including planning for future campus footprints that can extend the university's innovation mission to new markets.
“VURE’s role is to ensure Vanderbilt’s physical footprint evolves alongside its ambitions,” said Margaret Emley, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Real Estate. “By aligning our portfolio and development efforts with the university’s research and innovation priorities, we’re able to create spaces that bring faculty, students, startups, and industry partners together in meaningful ways. Our collaboration with CTTC is a strong example of how thoughtful real estate strategy can help accelerate discovery, support commercialization, and deepen Vanderbilt’s impact in Nashville and beyond.”
Planning for the Innovation Neighborhood
Looking ahead, CTTC is providing feedback and insights to VURE for one of Vanderbilt's most ambitious initiatives: the development of a mixed-use innovation neighborhood on approximately 40 acres on the western edge of campus. The vision is to transform currently underutilized space into a hub where research, entrepreneurship, and industry collaboration intersect—incorporating Research and Development facilities, incubator and co-working space, green space, retail, and housing, all rooted in Nashville's distinctive culture.
Nissha Medical Technologies is the first company to anchor this emerging ecosystem, offering an early proof point of the university's ability to attract industry partners who want to work alongside Vanderbilt researchers and clinicians. As planning for the innovation neighborhood advances, VURE and CTTC aim to attract additional industry tenants, support startup formation and growth, and build out a physical environment that can accelerate the movement of Vanderbilt innovations from the lab to the market, and into patients' lives.
About Vanderbilt University Real Estate (VURE)
VURE is part of Vanderbilt University's Division of Real Estate, Facilities and Development, which also includes Vanderbilt University Facilities, Maintenance and Operations, Planning, Design and Construction, Environment Health, Safety and Sustainability and Business Operations. VURE manages leasing operations for Vanderbilt University, oversees strategic land acquisitions, and plays a key role in implementing the university’s broader mission into decisions about land use. Learn more.