FAMU seeks to have a larger presence on FAMU Way

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FAMU expects to expand its campus footprint with the purchase four parcels of land that include 118 beds student housing that border FAMU Way and the Railroad Square Arts District.   The purchase is expected to include several existing apartment complexes and four duplexes, or 24 beds, at Paces; 32 units at Twelve-Twenty, or 52 beds; and 14 units at Lighthouse, which offers 42 beds.  It will also include 1.3 acres of undeveloped land where another 128-beds of housing can be built.

FAMU Trustees on Tuesday approved the purchase of the properties for up to $14 million, subject to an appraisal.  FAMU will use unused Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (federal pandemic funds) for the purchase.

“We have been trying to figure out a way to give FAMU a presence in the northwest front of campus where many developments have occurred, so this will give us a footprint there,” FAMU President Larry Robinson told trustees on the virtual meeting.
 
The real estate is being purchased from Summit Capital Partners - Tallahassee IV, Summit Capital Partners - Tallahassee V and Summit Capital Partners - Tallahassee VII which approached the university about buying the properties in January.

If all goes well, the university expects to close on the properties in October, and could have them available for student use by the start of the spring semester.  The plan is part of a larger plan to add 2,000 new beds of student housing over the next two years, said Gloria Walker,  FAMU CFO and VP for Administration and Financial Services.