[I]f you’re looking for a bucolic property complete with historic buildings, a full suite of athletic facilities, and enough beds to sleep hundreds – you’re in luck.
A spate of college closures across New England, including three in Vermont, means prospective buyers with those criteria have options.
At Southern Vermont College in Bennington, a listing says amenities include an English country house-style mansion with views on Mount Anthony, walking distance to the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, and five dormitory halls. At Green Mountain College in Poultney, selling points include a carbon neutral campus, working farm, and a 30-minute drive to the Rutland regional airport. (The third college to close this year, the College of St. Joseph, is not on the market, although its leaders have sold off pieces of properties in recent years.)
But the campuses have their sticking points, too. Green Mountain College carries close to $20 million in debt with the USDA. Southern Vermont College is millions of dollars in debt, too – though far less than Green Mountain – and is facing two separate suits from former donors. The Vermont Land Trust also holds permanent conservation easements on large swaths of land owned by both colleges which preserve public access.
Neither colleges have listing prices, although Paul Carroccio, the CEO of TPW Real Estate, which is handling the sale of Southern Vermont College, said its three parcels have been appraised at about $8 million all together.
For Green Mountain College, Christopher Sower, a vice-president at Colliers International, said his firm is “waiting to see what the market is going to tell us from a pricing perspective.”
Colliers is practiced at handling these sorts of transactions. It has been marketing the campus of Newbury College in Brookline, Mass., which announced in December it would close at the end of the year. Sower says the firm just recently selected a buyer, although he couldn’t say more at this time.
And while other colleges — which, aside from elite, top-tier institutions, are feeling an industry-wide squeeze — are unlikely to show much interest in these properties, both Sower and Carroccio said K-12 groups have called quite a bit.
“There were a significant number of educational users that were in the market looking for turn-key campuses in New England,” Sower said.
Potential investors are mostly from the private, K-12 world, he said, and possible buyers include both U.S.-based boarding schools and international groups running immersion programs.
“I think we’ll have offers here that are reasonable and interesting in the next few weeks. So hoping to put a deal together soon,” Carrocio said.
