The competitive landscape for enrollment and recruitment is increasing, requiring bespoke facility solutions to initiate or “level-up” research, science, and engineering programs. Forward-facing research facility planning processes must now be a participatory element of strategic planning and factor in urban vs suburban contexts, enrollment and research sponsorship levels, and target goals of initiating, renewing, or re-establishing institutional reputation. Session leaders contrast the contextualized concerns of institutions in a variety of circumstances and illustrate best practices for communication and balancing inspiration with reality. They examine case studies of altering current capital projects during a facilities planning process to establish achievable implementation plans that align with new funding models.