Capital’s Business and Finance Management Department is currently looking into purchasing properties for on-campus housing and parking. Every property Capital considers to purchase, however, must be within the Campus Planning District set aside by the city of Bexley.
These restrictions still don’t stop homeowners from contacting Capital before they place their homes on the market.
“We get homeowners who call us before putting their houses up for sale,” Dr. Michael Horan, Vice President of Business and Finance and the university treasurer said. “Homeowners don’t want to pay the six percent commission for a realtor, so they usually will reach out to us first.”
The Campus Planning District, which was put in place in an agreement with the city of Bexley in 2003, plays a major role in determining whether a property or home can be purchased by the university.
“Generally, we are interested in every offer,” Horan said. “But we cannot have housing outside of the campus district.”
The campus district stretches as far south as Astor Avenue and as far north as Main Street. The district is bordered by Alum Creek to the west and reaches east to Pleasant Ridge Drive and nearly to Euclaire Avenue with Bernlohr Stadium.
Each house or property Capital considers for purchase aims to be able to provide for five students per house. Due to the Campus Planning District being implemented in 2003, an interesting circumstance has risen with the properties Capital already owned outside the district before the agreement. These few properties outside the district, due to the agreement, are rented out to families and private homeowners instead of students.
Despite the 57 acres that the agreement of the Campus Planning District leaves Capital, the Business and Finance Department are always considering housing within the district.
“We make offers to most properties we are interested in, as we set aside a specific amount of money each year for that purpose,” Mary Ellen Borchers, Director of Business Services, said.
“Right now we are looking at a house on Sheridan Ave. that would back up to the commons,” Horan said. “We’ve made an offer and are expecting a response by Friday.”
If Capital’s offer for the house is accepted, the University will take ownership in March. Ideally, after a series of summer renovations to the home, it will be ready to house students come August.
Another need being addressed with prospective property within the district is parking. One property that Capital has made an offer for is a house on Sheridan Ave. that has damages beyond renovation, and clearing the home for a parking lot is in consideration.
“We are looking at acquiring all of the area between Main St. and Astor Ave. to address the parking needs,” Borchers said. “Our goal is to have parking available at the edges of campus, near Sheridan.”
There are a number of long-range visions in the strategic plan for Capital’s campus.
“We hope to get rid of O-lot in order to bring it closer to campus so we don’t have to run shuttles back and forth from campus,” Horan said. “We’d also like to bring the baseball field closer, but the land situation we are in doesn’t allow us to do that.”
Despite these restrictions, Capital is constantly looking to expand its property ownership in Bexley.
“We want to expand our footprint for future growth, opportunities, and needs of our campus,” Horan said.
There are currently 14 properties used for student houses, not counting the Capital Commons, Capital Apartments, and College Avenue Apartments.
