The University has decided to sell the 26-acre Westmoreland housing properties approximately 2.5 miles west of campus, hoping to use the potential tens of million of dollars from the sale to improve housing closer to campus, several officials announced Thursday.
The Westmoreland complexes currently house 582 people in 404 one and two-bedroom apartments. All residents will be able to stay until their leases expire on June 30, 2006, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of University Housing Mike Eyster told residents in an Oct. 19 letter.
Before selling the property, the University must first get permission from the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, which will hear the proposal in its early November meeting.
Eyster said the property was appraised earlier this year for between $15 and $18 million, but it’s probably valued at more than that now. The money from the sale will go toward improving housing options nearer to campus, Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke said.
The money wouldn’t completely fund a new residence hall, but it could help fund the construction or renovation of one, Eyster said.
The average cost of a new 480-bed residence hall is between $34 and $36 million, not including land and infrastructure extension costs, according to a University press release.
The money could also purchase land on which to build a new hall, Dyke said.
Eyster said University Housing staff will be relocated from the current site, and he doesn’t expect any layoffs.
“I don’t anticipate that anybody’s going to lose a job over this decision,” he said.
Westmoreland residents with children will get first priority in relocating to the Spencer View Apartments or into East University neighborhoods graduate housing. After the sale, there may not be enough space for all residents who wish to move in to University housing complexes, Eyster said.
“I anticipate we’ll be able to accommodate everybody that falls in that top priority and maybe beyond that,” Eyster said.
University officials decided to put the 45-year-old property up for sale because of high maintenance costs and the high potential cost of repairing the major structural problems on the site.
Also, the site was originally built to accommodate students with children, but only about 13 percent of the current residents have children, Eyster said. There are also only 360 leaseholders currently at Westmoreland, he said.
“We started out as family housing and we’re not really housing very many families,” Eyster said. “We started out full, with a lot of demand, and that’s not really the case right now. We started out trying to serve children and there aren’t very many children living there.”
Eyster said the University has tried renovating rooms to make them more attractive to families, but he speculated that families are choosing to pay more for larger apartments with different amenities.
Westmoreland apartments range in size from 375 to 500 square feet.The University has decided to sell the 26-acre Westmoreland housing properties three miles west of campus, hoping to use the potential tens of million of dollars from the sale to improve housing closer to campus, several officials announced Thursday.
The Westmoreland complexes currently house 582 people in 404 one- and two-bedroom apartments. All residents will be able to stay until their leases expire on June 30, 2006, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of University Housing Mike Eyster told residents in an Oct. 19 letter.
Before selling the property, the University must first get permission from the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, which will hear the proposal in its early November meeting.
Eyster said the property was appraised earlier this year for between $15 and $18 million, but it’s probably valued at more than that now. The money from the sale will go toward improving housing options nearer to campus, Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke said.
The money wouldn’t completely fund a new residence hall, but it could help fund the construction or renovation of one, Eyster said.
The average cost of a new 480-bed residence hall is between $34 and $36 million, not including land and infrastructure extension costs, according to a University press release.
The money could also purchase land on which to build a new hall, Dyke said.
Eyster said University Housing staff will be relocated from the current site, and he doesn’t expect any layoffs.
“I don’t anticipate that anybody’s going to lose a job over this decision,” he said.
Westmoreland residents with children will get first priority in relocating to the Spencer View Apartments or into East University neighborhoods graduate housing. After the sale, there may not be enough space for all residents who wish to move in to University housing complexes, Eyster said.
“I anticipate we’ll be able to accommodate everybody that falls in that top priority and maybe beyond that,” Eyster said.
University officials decided to put the 45-year-old property up for sale because of high maintenance costs and the high potential cost of repairing the major structural problems on the site.
Also, the site was originally built to accommodate students with children, but only about 13 percent of the current residents have children, Eyster said. There are also only 360 leaseholders currently at Westmoreland, he said.
“We started out as family housing and we’re not really housing very many families,” Eyster said. “We started out full, with a lot of demand, and that’s not really the case right now. We started out trying to serve children and there aren’t very many children living there.”
Eyster said the University has tried renovating rooms to make them more attractive to families, but he speculated that families are choosing to pay more for larger apartments with different amenities.
Westmoreland apartments range in size from 375 to 500 square feet.
News Editor Meghann Cuniff contributed to this report.

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