Officials have delayed the closing of the land deal between Burlington College and developer Eric Farrell until early February, the developer said Monday.
Farrell refused to say why the deadline was pushed back from its original closing date of Jan. 20. Interim college president Carol Moore Monday said the delay was caused in part by paperwork.
“We’re taking it a day at a time,” Moore said.
Farrell is set to purchase 27 lakefront acres from the financially struggling college for $7.65 million. In a separate deal, he also plans to buy the main building on campus, a former orphanage, for $2 million in 2016.
Farrell is supposed to provide a $250,000 nonrefundable deposit for the building purchase at the closing of the land sale.
The college has said that Farrell plans to build a mix of market-rate, low-income and senior housing on the site. Farrell declined to discuss the details Monday.
Under the terms of the purchase and sales agreement, Farrell has the right to extend the closing date for up to three, one-month periods by paying the college $50,000 for each one-month extension. It was not clear whether he has paid that amount.
The college purchased the land in 2010 from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington for $10 million and has struggled ever since to repay its loans.
The two purchases are estimated to cut the school’s debt from $11.4 million to $3 million, as well as reduce operating expenses such as heating and taxes.
The school is on academic probation from the regional accrediting agency because of poor financial management. Moore on Monday said professors have until March to create “teach-out” plans, a written strategy for how students could complete their programs if the school closes.
Asked Monday if the school was in danger of closing, Moore said “things are looking just fine.”
Moore said the teach-out plan is more of an exercise or contingency plan than a sign that the end is near.
The preliminary sale agreement, signed Nov. 13, 2014, gave land conservation groups 60 days to offer the school at least $7 million for the land, in lieu of Farrell’s offer. That window expired Jan. 13.
Meanwhile, a group of residents are trying to drum up community support for preserving the land as open space. The Save Open Space Burlington group will hold a public forum at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Burlington City Hall.
