More than $40 million is sitting in the ground in Franklin County, and the dirt has Ohio State’s name all over it.
According to the Franklin County Auditor’s Web site, 130 parcels of off-campus property are in OSU’s name. The total market value for the 130 off- campus listings is $40,788,330. The properties range from farmland to university hospitals.
Property acquisition is nothing new for OSU. The Real Estate and Property Management Office on campus is the hub for land transactions for the university. If land is leased from or to the university, gifted or sold, REPM is involved.
“Acquiring facilities for research purposes is our number one issue right now,” said Ralph Recchie, interim director of real estate at OSU. “Research facilities attract the best faculty which in turn attracts the best students who want to work with that faculty.”
The REPM office is currently researching available property for two specific campus uses.
“We are searching for an appropriate site in the neighborhood east of High street to serve as a joint Columbus and OSU policing center,” Recchie said. “We are also evaluating the acquisition of an industrial property near the sci-tech campus, Kinnear area, for possible long range research and support uses.”
The demand for space has not increased drastically over recent years but the need to satisfy the demand for facilities is a very high priority for the foreseeable future, Recchie said.
The demand for temporary or “swing” space is high and will most likely remain so as campus rebuilding continues in the future.
“The trend for OSU as a property owner hasn’t changed all that much,” Recchie said. “We have always been acquiring properties for the fulfillment of the university’s academic mission.”
If a department or OSU has an immediate and specific need for space, the REPM office is contacted. Otherwise, OSU might enter a process to generate capital through state funds which may take upwards of seven to 10 years to secure, Recchie said.
OSU and REPM have identified acquisition zones around campus. REPM tries to acquire pieces of property within certain areas that fulfill a specific purpose for the university.
The south acquisition zone, which runs to the Neil Avenue Complex on West 10th Avenue, has been set since the 1960s, Recchie said.
The demand for space is a constant issue, especially for the largest university in the nation. When a department realizes they have a need for space, they fill out a renovation/construction services request form. The form asks the requester to deem what funds will be used to pay for the project. The department head’s and dean of the college’s signature are required before the form can be put on file. The request must be approved by the Office of Facility Planning and department of physical facilities. The Office of Facility Planning tracks all of the space needs on campus.
“We look at the request versus the spaces available we have on file, but the requests always outnumber the spaces available,” said Glen Funk, director of facility planning. “If the request involves research, we’ll talk to the requester to see if their grant or funding allows them to purchase or lease space. If it does and they have available funds we’ll direct them to the real estate office.”
The number of space requests range from 50 to 100 a year. The focus of the requests has shifted to space needed for research over recent years, Funk said.
REPM handles nearly 1,000,000 square feet of commercial real estate and more than 13,500 acres for the various university interests including those for the endowment and for the board of trustees, according to the Office of Facilities Planning and Development Web site.
Land managed by OSU can be under a number of names. Seventy properties in Franklin County are managed by OSU, according to the county auditor’s office, but are deeded to the state of Ohio because as a public university the land is for the benefit of Ohio.
A piece of property in the name of the board of trustees is most likely an investment piece whose returns are used to support OSU’s academic mission, Recchie said.
It is unclear how many of the 130 properties in Franklin County owned by OSU have been bought by OSU. Property is not listed as a donation or purchase on the county auditor’s Web site and zero dollars listed as a sale amount does not necessarily mean the property was donated.
If a property was bought by OSU and then transferred to be titled under the board of trustees, the original sale amount for the same property would not be listed under the new profile even though the board of trustees is part of the university, a spokeswoman for the Franklin County Auditor’s Office said.
Campus Partners, established in 1995 by OSU and the city of Columbus, spearheads property acquisition searches east of High street. The goal of Campus Partners is to improve the quality of the neighborhoods in the university district.
Stephen Sterrett, community relations director for Campus Partners, sees Campus Partners serving three functions: One, Campus Partners created a comprehensive improvement plan to help build public support for the revitalization of the university district. Two, Campus Partners facilitates municipal services such as street sweeping, street light replacement and building code enforcement. Three, Campus Partners dedicates time toward specific construction projects such as the University Gateway Center and the renovation of section-eight housing in the Weinland Park area.
Campus Partners is listed as the property owner of 25 properties in Franklin County, not including the land for the Gateway project which is deeded to OSU’s board of trustees. The total market value of holdings under the Campus Partners name is $6,086,700. However, Campus Partners has stake in more than 25 properties around campus. Some properties are deeded to Campus Partners’ subsidiaries, which are set up for accounting purposes.
“We like to have all of one project’s construction and information under one name. It makes for a clear record for financial and business transactions,” Sterrett said.
The completion of the Gateway project and its opening is Campus Partners’ first and foremost objective in the near future. Campus Partners will continue to look for projects that will improve the university neighborhood, Sterrett said.
OSU holds numerous facilities statewide including Clear Stone Laboratory on Gibraltar Island in Lake Erie. Outside of the state of Ohio, OSU leases space in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Calif. and Naples, Fla. The leased spaces in Washington D.C. are part of the facilities for the John Glenn Institute. The offices in Los Angeles, Calif. and Naples, Fla., are development offices centered near concentrations of OSU alumni.
“The overwhelming issue that contributes to the fluctuation of acquisitions year to year is availability of funds,” Recchie said. “The university is very frugal with funds and understandably protective of our excellent bond rating. The result is that we have to be very creative in setting priorities and meeting as many of the needs of the university community while remaining within our available means.”
