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Written By: Sydney Mook | Jun 18th 2019 - 12am.
UND will be asking permission to sell two apartment buildings during a budget and finance committee meeting of the State Board of Higher Education today, as it looks to constrict its boundaries closer to Sixth Avenue.
One building, a 10-unit rental complex that also includes companion garages located at 1225 Stanford Road, is excess property and is separated from UND's main campus by about seven blocks, UND associate vice president of facilities Mike Pieper said.
UND had acquired the property, which was vacated June 1, by a quit claim deed from the Fellows of UND Inc. in 2002 for student housing.
The university already has received permission from the North Dakota Legislature to sell the property; now it must get permission from the State Board of Higher Education.
The second unit the university is asking permission to sell is the Gallery Apartments at 715 N. 40th St. It is an 84-unit apartment building and is also excess property adjacent to UND's main campus' northwest boundary. A mix of student, staff and faculty live in the apartment building, Pieper said.
"We're trying to keep our boundary at Sixth Avenue and so this is just north of the road," Pieper said.
If approved, the Gallery Apartments would be placed on the market next summer. UND will work with tenants to smooth their transitions, according to Pieper, adding that the change could happen more easily if a company buys the apartments with the intent of continuing leases.
Acquired from the UND Foundation, the property was a combination of a gift and UND Student Housing revenue bonds authorized by the 1981 Legislature, according to an SBHE document.
"We're not in a big housing boom anymore, so we'd rather just sell that than manage it and sort of live within our boundary," Pieper said.
The university owns various rental properties throughout the campus.
"We have some apartments south of the university, north of the university, those are all in use," Pieper said, noting each apartment building has a different style.
Some people may want a single-bedroom or two-bedroom apartment and those options are available in other areas, so the sale of the two units should not affect housing availability, he said.
In the future, the university may tear down other buildings it owns but it would maintain ownership of the land in order to put up new living spaces or other type of property. Pieper said there are no definitive plans for where, when or how those spaces could be used in the future.
The university also will be asking for permission to raze Memorial Union and the steam plant. Both of these projects have been approved by the Legislature and the State Board. However, a specific approval must be issued to tear down the buildings.
Memorial Union is scheduled to be razed in July; while the steam plant will likely come down next spring or summer.
STATE BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION
MIKE PIEPER
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