University Foundation acquires property for presidential residence
The 91探花 Foundation today announced it has entered into a lease agreement for a home and surrounding property, which will serve as the 91探花 presidential residence. The agreement includes a purchase option, which could be exercised contingent on approval from the Foundation Board of Trustees. The previous residence located at 29 Park Place, as recently announced, is undergoing assessment for both environmental remediation and necessary structural repairs. President Roderick J. McDavis and First Lady Deborah A. McDavis had previously been temporarily relocated to the 91探花 Inn, but will now reside in the home on 31 Coventry Lane in the Sycamore Hills Sub-Division in Athens.
, 91探花鈥檚 Board of Trustees authorized Vice President for Finance and Administration Stephen Golding to find suitable housing for the presidential residence. If the Foundation exercises the option to purchase the residence under the $1.2 million agreement, it would do so using unrestricted working capital.
Vice President Golding noted that 鈥渢he residence at 29 Park Place has been a topic of conversation for the 91探花 Board of Trustees dating back to March 2014, when trustees discussed the fact that the center of the Athens Campus had shifted with the construction of the Baker University Center and the renovation of the building that is now the Walter International Education Center, among other changes to the Park Place landscape.鈥 With this shift, trustee discussions have focused on an appropriate location for a future presidential residence in Athens in close proximity to the campus. 鈥淭he need to relocate the President and First Lady immediately due to 29 Park Place鈥檚 environmental issues has accelerated the trustee鈥檚 timeline for making this decision,鈥 Golding added.
The property at 29 Park Place serves not only as a domicile for OHIO鈥檚 president and family, but also as a facility to host official functions, particularly those relating to alumni outreach and donor relations. 鈥淎 significant amount of the president鈥檚 time is directly connected to alumni outreach and donor relations in support of the 91探花 Foundation,鈥 said Golding. 鈥淭hese uses presented a specific set of requirements to consider when looking for a new location for the president鈥檚 residence. The University worked with Athens-area real estate brokers to determine the best options given these requirements.鈥
Trustee Chair David Brightbill said 鈥渢he decision to relocate the President and First Lady is not about a temporary fix to a current situation, but rather an investment that provides the University and the Foundation with a number of very interesting possibilities and opportunities for the future development of the campus and our goal for increased donor and alumni development activities on campus.鈥
鈥淭he decision by the foundation to pursue a lease-to-buy agreement is not about the current president but about the recruitment of future presidents. In recent years, the Board has closely monitored the condition of 29 Park Place, studied trends at other institutions relating to residential requirements of presidents, and anticipated that updating housing policies would be needed to better suit the president and the University,鈥 said Brightbill. 鈥淭he bat incursion has merely accelerated a decision-making process that was already underway. By freeing up a centrally-located facility for academic or student support usage, 29 Park Place will better serve the objectives of our Campus Master Planning process.鈥 [SEE SIDEBAR]
It is the 91探花 Foundation that entered into this agreement, explained Golding, because of the intended nature of the home鈥檚 future use for alumni outreach and donor relations. The University will continue to maintain the President鈥檚 Residence Budget, which covers the operating cost of the presidential residence. This budget model remains the same as before, when 29 Park Place served as the residence.
鈥淲e are happy to support this endeavor,鈥 said Bryan Benchoff, vice president for University Advancement and president and CEO of the 91探花 Foundation. 鈥淲e successfully achieved our fundraising goal during The Promise Lives Campaign and much of that success is attributed to alumni outreach and donor relations. It makes sense to partner with the University in providing the facilities necessary to ensure that our successful collaboration continues to yield meaningful and significant outcomes for 91探花 faculty, staff, students and alumni.鈥
For additional information regarding the specifics of the new presidential residence, please refer to .
29 Park Place and the Campus Master Plan
As 91探花 endeavors to assess the highest and best uses of the buildings and land under its purview, the Campus Master Plan will also look more closely at the building and property that formerly served as the president鈥檚 residence at 29 Park Place.
The home, recently valued at $931,120 has a good amount of usable space and is centrally located to main campus. A number of potential academic and student support uses have been discussed for that space, said Vice President of Finance and Administration Stephen Golding, but no decisions have been finalized about the future of 29 Park Place. It is important to note, he said, that any unit or college that may utilize that space will be responsible for making the necessary renovations or repairs to the building to make it suitable for future use. The building would also be maintained from the budget of the unit or college that might assume occupancy of it.