Property zoned for college housing at Penn State University’s Behrend campus near Erie may gain new life as a church; while a Penn State Harrisburg building could be going to that city’s school district.
A panel of Penn State trustees endorsed both real estate divestitures Thursday as board members began two days of meetings on the University Park campus.
Both properties combined would generate about $3.4 million at a time the state’s flagship public university is looking to pare expenses across its campuses to shrink a projected budget deficit. The items will go before the full board Friday afternoon.
At Behrend, the Slavic Pentecostal Church intends to seek a zoning change to build a church on 13.7 acres of what is known as the Kanty property in Harborcreek Township, the committee on finance, business and capital planning was told.
The church made a $320,000 cash “as-is” offer, said Sara Thorndike, senior vice president for finance & business and treasurer.
Kanty refers to the former prep school there.
In Harrisburg, the Eastgate building at 1010 North Seventh St. is on about 1.2 acres. It has close to 49,000 rentable square feet of commercial/office institutional-zoned space.
There is a $3.1 million cash as is offer involving the school district.
On the deficit reduction front, Thorndike said that the shortfall for Fiscal Year 2024 is projected to be smaller than budgeted — $23 million versus $44 million.
Bill Schackner is a TribLive reporter covering higher education. Raised in New England, he joined the Trib in 2022 after 29 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where he was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. Previously, he has written for newspapers in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. He can be reached at bschackner@triblive.com.