Re: Western Buys More Houses
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:27 am
Personally, I feel like any time property becomes available to buy near or adjacent to campus, and it's at all feasible to buy it, it's probably a good idea to do so, even if it just stays as green space for a while. You never really know what'll happen in the future and if it's purchased by someone else, it might be a long time before it comes back on the market again.
We're not in a position now, but if the university ever does need to expand into those areas, it could be much more cost-prohibitive to do so down the road if we're trying to buy it from private ownership. Also, if the Foundation has a fund specifically set aside for things like acquiring property/increasing the university's "value", then it's not really coming out of the general operational fund.
I know we're not the same type of institution (or have the same level of funding), but just thinking about Monmouth College...my dad grew up very close to their campus, and every time he's near there he comments on how much land around the college is now under ownership/control of the college (in large part because his childhood home and neighbor's home just got torn down for their new Pi Beta Phi house. You can see their campus map here: http://ou.monmouthcollege.edu/about/loc ... s-map.aspx
Western isn't as aggressive as Monmouth College is in acquiring property, but even if it costs a bit of money, I think land adjacent to campus is worth investing in.
We're not in a position now, but if the university ever does need to expand into those areas, it could be much more cost-prohibitive to do so down the road if we're trying to buy it from private ownership. Also, if the Foundation has a fund specifically set aside for things like acquiring property/increasing the university's "value", then it's not really coming out of the general operational fund.
I know we're not the same type of institution (or have the same level of funding), but just thinking about Monmouth College...my dad grew up very close to their campus, and every time he's near there he comments on how much land around the college is now under ownership/control of the college (in large part because his childhood home and neighbor's home just got torn down for their new Pi Beta Phi house. You can see their campus map here: http://ou.monmouthcollege.edu/about/loc ... s-map.aspx
Western isn't as aggressive as Monmouth College is in acquiring property, but even if it costs a bit of money, I think land adjacent to campus is worth investing in.