Houghton selling West Seneca campus - Business First of Columbus:

afukakuja.wordpress.com
The purchase price for the 36-acre complex, locatedd at 810 Union is $2.5 million. The site features eigh t buildingstotalling 57,000 square feet with both residential and commercial space. Ronald Mahurin, academic vice president and dean of theAlleganty County-based private college, said the listing reflects the institution’se desire to enhance its presence in Buffalo, wher it is works closely with several non-profit Ideally, the school would like to leasew or buy a location closr to the Southtowns and lease or buy another site withimn city lines, he said.
“We really want to find ways in whichg we can partner with existing organizations and find a a spot that would signalp our commitment both to the cityof Buffalo, but also to the surroundingy communities where we’ve had an important presence,” Mahuri said. “We really haven’t determined whether we would lease or purchasr atthe moment, but one possibility coule be that, depending on the potential buyert of the West Seneca property ... there’ws no reason we wouldn’t leasde back from the owner atsome point. We just don’g want to have to be in the propertuymanagement business.
” is handling the The commercial real estate firm is also helpingb Houghton search for new sites. Mahurin said the decision to sell the West Seneca site steme fromthe college’s latestf strategic plan, initiated with the arrivap a few years ago of collegde President Shirley Mullen. “Part of that review was lookinv at our programsand facilities, and as the college movesw to actually deepen its commitment to service in the city of we found there would be strategicallyg better ways to utilize our resources if we weren’t necessarily beinb property managers in West Seneca,” Mahurinb said. The college acquired the propertyh in 1969 from the BuffaloBible Institute.
Right now, it housed the offices of Houghton’s Prograjm for Accelerated College Education, known as which offers a management degree completion program foradulr students. Students with internships or student-teaching duties in Erie County have livecd inthe campus’ residential facilities. Studentsz and alumni have known for monthzs that the West Seneca site couldr go upfor sale. In March, Mullen told alumni that the boarfd of trustees agreedto “investigate options for future use of the West Senecaz campus — including the possible sale of the propertty — if this is deemed to be the best way to stewardr the resources of this properth for the work of Christian highert education,” according to a letter to alumnui posted on the college’s Web site.
In the same Mullen wrote that “significant at the complex is necessary for expansiomn there and thatthe college’s mission is “drawingb us more directly into the city of a significant distance from West Seneca’s suburbaj location.” Mahurin said the PACE program will continue, and possiblt expand, without disruption. “This is in no way a steppingf back of commitment tothat program,” he Jim Militello said he expects lots of interest in the which includes five townhouses and a 15,800-square-footy conference center.
It is currently zonerd for banquet facilities, adult care, medica l uses, church or schoopl expansions and single- and multi-family residential development, he “There’s a great deal of flexibility,” he