Connecticut and Greater Hartford have seen a higher-than-usual number of college campuses hit the market, realty experts said, the result of challenges facing the broader higher-education industry, including dwindling enrollment and the pandemic’s impact, which threw many college budgets into disarray.
Finding new users for the properties may not be easy, experts said, at a time when higher interest rates have crimped commercial real estate investment. Also, many organizations continue to re-evaluate their space needs coming out of the pandemic, including colleges, which have seen a wider embrace of hybrid or online learning.
That, in some cases, has reduced their need for classroom and other types of space.
Several campus properties have hit the market just in the last few months — most notably the recently-defunct Stone Academy schools in Hartford, Waterbury and West Haven.
In February, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, citing an increased focus on the digital delivery of its programs, put its 12.7-acre Hartford campus on Windsor Street up for sale.
Meanwhile, the former Briarwood College/Lincoln College campus in Southington near Lake Compounce is also on the market.
The properties are being marketed to new education users, which could be a tough sell in the current market, or as redevelopment opportunities.
“From a historical perspective, there are many more college campuses on the market today nationally, including in New England, than in the past,” said Todd Noel, a vice chairman of brokerage firm Colliers International, who specializes in educational entities and is helping sell the former Briarwood College property on Mount Vernon Road.
Test cases
In addition to for-sale properties, a number of college campuses have traded hands in recent years.
In March 2022, the University of Hartford, which is facing financial challenges, sold its former Hartford College for Women campus on Asylum Avenue for $1 million to a New York investor who has not yet revealed plans for the 10.5-acre site.
In December 2021, a development team paid $2.75 million for UConn’s former regional campus in West Hartford, which it plans to transform into a mixed-use neighborhood village with 492 apartments, a grocery store, medical office building, spa and parking garage.
The former UConn campus reflects the challenges of finding new users for sprawling higher-ed properties. UConn vacated the 58-acre site in 2017, when it relocated to its new downtown Hartford campus. The West Hartford site has been vacant since that time.
UConn agreed to sell the campus in 2018 for $5.2 million to tech firm Ideanomics (formerly Seven Stars Cloud), which unveiled an ambitious $283 million redevelopment plan to transform the property into a fintech village that would yield 330 jobs.
The vision never panned out and Ideanmoics sold the property at a loss.
Another former college campus that has struggled to find a new use is the former culinary arts building at 85 Sigourney St., in Hartford, which has been vacant for years.
Built in 1984, the eight-story, 367,406-square-foot building on 5.86 acres originally housed offices and a gymnasium for employees of Hartford health insurer Aetna.
Later, the Lincoln Culinary Institute occupied the building after relocating from Farmington. While there, the institute converted some of the building’s space to dormitories.
The school closed in Dec. 2016.
It was last purchased by New York-based Carnegie Management Inc. in 2021 for $3.7 million, records show.
Carnegie Head of Development Marty Spitzer said his company planned to convert the property into a school, university or assisted living facility, but nothing has materialized yet.
The property remains available for lease, Spitzer said. One of the challenges is the abundant amount of recreation space inside. The building could also be converted into a hotel, he added.
Here’s a look at the prospects of the other major college campuses currently on the market.
Colliers’ Noel is working with Hartford-based realty investor and broker Rick Chozik on the sale of the former 32-acre Briarwood/Lincoln College campus, which has been vacant since 2019.
It last traded hands in 2021, when PGX Holdings — controlled by Medel Paris of New Haven and Moises Grunblatt of Woodbridge — bought it for $3.5 million. At the time, the investors were hoping to put the property back to use as a technical school, but plans haven’t come to fruition.
Before that, there were proposals to convert the seven-building former educational campus into luxury, age-restricted homes or affordable housing.
It’s currently on the market for $8.92 million and lends itself to educational use, including a corporate education or training center, said Chozik, who added there have been between six to 10 entities that “have expressed somewhat serious interest,” in the campus.
He declined to share further details.
Stone Academy portfolio
New Britain-based Amodio & Co. Real Estate is the listing broker for Stone Academy’s three campuses in East Hartford, Waterbury and West Haven, which are available for sale or lease.
Amodio is also the listing broker for Paier College of Art’s former Hamden campus.
Stone Academy’s East Hartford campus, at 745 and 763 Burnside Ave., features 17,315 square feet of educational space across three buildings on 3.9 acres, and could be used as an academic campus, assisted living facility or multifamily conversion, according to Amodio & Co. Principal Frank Amodio. It’s listed for $2.1 million.
The West Haven campus, at 560 Sawmill Road, is listed for $2.6 million and spans 27,486 square feet on 2.4 acres, while the Waterbury campus, at 101 Pierpont Road, is on the market for $975,000. It contains 12,596 square feet on 2.5 acres across three buildings near Interstate 84.
Of the four school properties, Amodio said the Waterbury campus is likely to trade hands first because that “market is very hot right now.” The campus is located on Waterbury’s east side in a suburban neighborhood near a busy commercial sector, he said.
Amodio said he’s already shown each property at least 10 times, but declined to provide further details about prospective buyers.
His goal is to have the properties occupied in a year, he said.
RPI campus
John McCormick Jr., executive vice president of CBRE’s Hartford office, has been the lead broker since February for the Rensselaer campus, located at 275 Windsor St.
The property, which is being marketed for sale without a formal asking price, sits on 12.69-acres, includes an eight-story classroom building and amphitheater, and is situated on the northern side of downtown Hartford.
While many available college campuses are marketed toward education-related users, the Rensselaer campus is being pitched as a mixed-use residential redevelopment opportunity, McCormick said.
Other uses could include educational, senior housing, a hotel, concert or retail venue, or even recreational opportunities, he said.
“We are not limited by the current zoning of the property,” said McCormick, who noted the building can be repurposed or demolished.
McCormick said he’s encouraged by the early tour traffic, but declined to disclose details about interested buyers. A key selling point, he said, is its location near the center of downtown next to Dunkin’ Park, with immediate highway access and 860 parking spaces.
