The Wall Street Journal reports on the sale of property by The General Theological Seminary:
Seminary Sees Virtue in Land Sale
In the Wall Street Journal
After being battered by the financial downturn and declining enrollment, the General Theological Seminary in Chelsea is attempting a financial turnaround, aiming to eliminate $41 million of debt and to rejuvenate its depleted endowment fund.
The plan revolves around selling land and several of the seminary’s historic properties to a developer, who intends to convert those buildings into condos.
“It hurts a lot of our trustees to sell any of our real estate,” said Lang Lowrey, president of the seminary. “But we are getting a really good value.”
The Brodsky Organization has agreed to pay $47.5 million for three buildings and a parcel of land currently used as tennis courts where the developer will erect a condo building. The sale of the first of these buildings is expected to close soon, pending state court approval that is needed in the case of real-estate deals by religious groups. The sales accord was announced last year.