Ohio University trustees to discuss sale of "surplus" properties

More than a dozen properties owned by Ohio University — including parts of The Ridges, several buildings in Uptown Athens and the largest known remnant of the original forest of southeastern Ohio — may be listed as surplus and available for sale if the Board of Trustees approves.

The list of 13 properties was included in a Sept. 29 press release about the October 7–8 board meeting. The release touted plans to rename McCracken Hall; the agenda item about surplus property appears about a third of the way down.

The "portfolio reduction plan," as it is described in the agenda, will be presented on Oct. 7. (The presentation is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.) The body will then decide whether to approve the university's request to declare the properties “as surplus” and available for lease or sale. The properties would be included in "the State's impending land conveyance bill,” according to a memo from Joseph Trubacz, interim vice president for finance and administration, Dominick Brook, director of real estate and Shawna Wolfe, associate vice president for university planning.

A land conveyance bill authorizes the sale of real property within the three-year period after passage of the bill; it does not require the sale if an alternative is chosen.

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