UL asked for four acres of the Cajun Field parking lot to be appraised. Here’s what it’s worth.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has received appraisals on three properties so far as the school’s new president aims to sell off properties in an effort to close a $12 million deficit by the end the fiscal year.
The UL System board has already approved the sale of two of those properties, which are a $2.1 million ecology center near Carencro and a $350,000 house near the university’s research park.
A third property at the corner of Congress Street and Cajundome Boulevard has not gone to the board for approval. The January appraisal, which The Acadiana Advocate received through a public records request, estimates the four acres of the Cajun Field parking lot to be worth $2.4 million, with the “extraordinary assumption” the property is available for commercial use. Current zoning prohibits commercial activity at the property because it is owned by the university.
Because of the property’s prime location, the “most productive use” of the site would be for a commercial business, such as a sports bar, restaurant, retail store or parking garage, the report said.
UL spokesperson Eric Maron said Wednesday that the university only got the property appraised to get an idea of what other properties in the university commons vicinity are worth.
“They have no intention of selling that property,” Maron said. “It just gives them a gauge for what the value of other properties are in the area.”
Ramesh Kolluru, who was named the seventh president of the university last week, said during an interview that he intends to close the remaining $12 million of a $50 million deficit by June 30 through selling properties and fundraising.
The university owns numerous properties in multiple parishes, including:
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145 acres on the main campus
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23 acres at the health sciences campus along St. Mary Boulevard and St. Landry Street
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391 acres in the university commons area that includes the Cajundome, the athletic complex and the research park along Congress Street and Cajundome Boulevard
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a 10-acre portion of Moncus Park
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the 51-acre ecology center near Carencro.
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16 houses in Lafayette Parish
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15 former businesses, parking lots and vacant lots in Lafayette Parish
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a 600-acre experimental research farm near Cade that includes three houses
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100 acres of the New Iberia Research Center campuses
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a 2,500-acre environmental research site across St. James and Lafourche parishes
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a five-acre coastal restoration site in Vermilion Parish
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a five-acre concentrated solar power site in Acadia Parish
The UL System board approved the sale of five properties last week. In addition to the 50-acre ecology center and the house near research park, the board approved the sale of the experimental research farm near Cade, an empty lot near the main campus and a fraternity house near the Cajundome.
Appraisals are pending on the research farm and the empty lot. The university will seek permission from the Louisiana Legislature’s House and Senate natural resources committees for the approval of each sale, except for the fraternity house, before publicizing the sale and conducting a public auction. The appraised value of each property will establish the minimum bid.
The UL System board last week approved the sale of the Sigma Nu fraternity house to the local chapter’s alumni association for about $111,000.
UL graduate student Maddy Moore started a petition at change.org last week in an effort discourage decision-makers from selling the university’s experimental research farm and ecology center. The petition has received more than 1,200 signatures in six days.