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WMU selling Arboretum Apartment Complex

Sept. 18, 2004

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University has taken the first step in getting out of the off-campus housing business.

Acting at its Sept. 17 meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to put the 240-unit Arboretum Apartment Complex up for sale, authorizing University administrators to execute a listing agreement with a qualified real estate broker.

"The Kalamazoo market has become, in our assessment, severely over constructed with comparable apartment units," says Robert M. Beam, WMU vice president for business and finance, adding that the possible sale of the property, containing 688 bedrooms, clubhouse, pool and common area, has already attracted considerable interest.

Selling the property would accomplish two important goals, Beam says.

First, selling the complex would place it on the city's tax rolls with a resultant increase of property taxes to the city of Kalamazoo. Second, the University would garner in excess of $20 million to be redirected to paying for housing improvements on campus, in effect amounting to a windfall for the University housing system.

The University constructed the complex, located on the east side of Drake Road, north of West Michigan Avenue, in 2000 and 200l. At the time, it was valued at $22,879,540.

Media contact: Mark Schwerin, 269 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu

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