Plan would transfer ownership of chiropractic college's campus to neighboring university
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
MARIETTA - The Georgia Board of Regents on Tuesday agreed to move forward with a
plan that would transfer ownership of the Life University campus to the
fund-raising foundation at neighboring Southern Polytechnic State University.
The deal, which would be finalized next year, would provide new classroom space
and athletic facilities for the growing SPSU while allowing Life to pay off debt
and continue operations by leasing a portion of the classroom space from SPSU.
Tuesday's decision, made behind closed doors in executive session of the Board
of Regents, was not a final approval of the proposal.
The board instead directed its
staff to begin work with the SPSU Foundation on negotiating a final deal.
The board will vote on the final proposal in June.
On Tuesday, SPSU President Dr. Lisa Rossbacher said the deal would allow her
university to address pressing concerns for increased classroom space,
architecture design studios and new recreational space.
Under normal circumstances, a state university would have to apply and wait five
years before capital funds would be available for the construction of new
facilities on campus, she said.
"This would be a way to address both our short-term needs and our long-term
needs for space without getting on that minimum five-year waiting list," Dr.
Rossbacher said.
She said the arrangement would also be a way for SPSU to assist its neighboring
institution of higher learning "to help them to continue to serve their students
who, in turn, will continue to serve the State of Georgia."
The 89-acre Life campus with 12 buildings, located along Barclay Circle between
Cobb Parkway and South Cobb Drive, was appraised in 2002 for about $52 million.
Under the current proposal,
the SPSU Foundation would take ownership of the campus by agreeing to acquire
the $30.7 million in bond debt now owed by Life.
In a separate transaction, the foundation would also purchase the Life
University Commons student apartment complex on Barclay Circle for about $3.5
million.
In return, Life would be allowed to lease 50 to 60 percent of the buildings on
campus to continue it operations. Rent would be an equal percentage of the $2.7
million in annual debt service now paid by Life each year.
The lease would last for 10 years, beginning July 1, 2004. After five years,
Life would have the option to purchase the buildings it uses, with final
ownership transferred to Life after eight years.
Other areas of the Life campus will be used by SPSU, including the gymnasium,
the student activity center, a current clinic and administration building on
Barclay Circle, the "frontier village," public greenspace and other athletic
facilities.
The apartments would still be available to Life students, but would also be
opened to married SPSU students.
The apartments and other aspects of the Life campus would also be renovated
using $5 million in credit made available by Financial Security Assurance Inc.,
the agency that issued insurance on the Life's bond debt.
The SPSU Foundation expects to pay off the debt by 2026, at which time the
foundation plans to donate the Life campus to the Georgia Board of Regents.
Life University first approached SPSU about a land deal late last year while
Life was still reeling from the June 2002 loss of its accreditation from the
Council on Chiropractic Education.
A court has since restored Life's accreditation and Life and the CCE last summer
agreed to drop litigation both sides had filed on the matter.
But the bad public relations tarnished the school's image. Enrollment has
dropped by about 2,000 students in the past two years, from a high of 3,200 in
2001 to about 1,300 today.
A month after the CCE pulled the school's accreditation, Life opted to disband
its athletic department. The move saved the university about $1.8 million a
year, but also rendered the elaborate athletic facilities on campus unnecessary.
Next door, enrollment at SPSU rose from 3,310 in spring 2001 to 3,525 in spring
2003. Applications to the school's architecture program, the only such program
at a public university in Georgia, have increased 63 percent in the past three
years.
SPSU had already planned to construct two new academic buildings to accommodate
the growing enrollment, at a cost of $46 million. According to a statement
released by SPSU, acquisition of the Life campus would provide the same
classroom space, but at a cost of $71 a square foot compared with $170 a square
foot for buildings.
dburch@mdjonline.com