By Hannah Gordon
News Editor
St. Bonaventure announced that it will sell 10 of the 17 acres, previously designated as space for Bonaventure Square, though they would not disclose the value of the transaction.
Community Bank System, Inc. signed an agreement with the university last week to buy and builda new facility on the former Bonaventure Square lot. Nicholas DiCerbo, Esq., chairman of the board for Community Bank System, Inc., said the company enjoys working with St. Bonaventure University.
“This has been a great partnership with the university,” DiCerbo said in the release. “We appreciate the extremely cooperative effort that will result in an outstanding new facility.”
Former University President Robert Wickenheiser purchased the property in several parcels during the period between 2001 and 2003 with hopes to develop the site into townhouses, according to Brenda McGee, senior vice president for finance and administration.
The university contacted developers who created the Bonaventure Square concept, but could not get funding approved to begin construction because of area demographics. McGee said the macroeconomic environment resulting from the banking crisis in 2008 and 2009, which made investment funding much more difficult, also played a factor in the demise of Bonaventure Square plans.
In the original transactions, the land was purchased in three different sales ranging from $70,000 to more than $100,000 per acre, according to McGee.
“This proposed sale is for the current appraised value of the land which is not yet disclosed because the sale has not actually taken place yet,” McGee said. “What we have executed is a purchase agreement that calls for closing the transaction in the next several months.”
According to McGee, the proceeds of the purchase will go to paying off the mortgage loan on the property and paying other costs related to the property such as property taxes and maintenance costs.
gordonhr13@bonaventure.edu
