St. Joe’s explores selling or leasing some or all of former USciences campus, according to bond filing

St. Joseph’s University is in discussions to sell or lease facilities at the former University of the Sciences campus, which became part of St. Joe’s under a merger that took effect July 1, according to an Oct. 31 bond filing.

And the university’s long-term plan for the University City campus includes potentially selling or leasing all or a portion of it, and transferring student programs to its main Hawk Hill campus less than five miles away. The former USciences campus is valued at nearly $288 million, according to the filing.

St. Joe’s is seeking to borrow $200 million for the construction of a residence hall, student center, academic buildings, a parking garage, and possibly a science center on its main campus, the filing said.

» READ MORE: The devil is dead. . The hawk lives on. USciences is officially part of St. Joseph’s University.

“While discussions with potential purchasers or lessees of the University City campus facilities have begun, there is no guarantee that the university’s plan with respect to the sale of the University City campus will proceed, which is dependent on, among other factors, market conditions,” the university said in the filing.

During merger talks with USciences that began in 2021, St. Joe’s, which straddles the Philadelphia/Lower Merion border, had said it envisioned keeping both campuses and as recently as late June said both campuses would be retained.

» READ MORE: St. Joe's and Usciences propose a merger

But in a mid-September email to alumni, Cheryl A. McConnell, interim president, said the university intended to move all undergraduate programs to the Hawk Hill campus over the next few years, starting with freshmen in 2023.

“In the months following completion of our merger, it has become apparent that our undergraduate students thrive when living and learning together in community,” McConnell wrote.

She said the University City campus would continue to be used for graduate health-related research and programs, including those in occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant, and pharmaceutics. Many of the operations, she wrote, will be consolidated on the campus’ southwest side.

“To fully understand our options for continued campus planning, it is important to explore all possibilities for the consolidation of the University City campus,” McConnell wrote. “Many combinations of transactions are possible, including sale of select buildings, sale of multiple buildings, and sale of land with long-term lease backs.”

The University City campus is in a relatively hot real estate market, though the corner of West Philadelphia where it’s located hasn’t seen a lot of new development.

The university declined Tuesday to elaborate on its plans.

According to the filing, the university said it would use proceeds from any sale or lease to pay $170 million in USciences’ debt and move any additional funds into the endowment. If the university were to sell the entire campus, it would have to lease space on it for some time while new facilities are built with the $200 million bond issue, the filing said.

St. Joe’s, like many other universities, is dealing with lower enrollment following the pandemic. When planning the merger, St. Joe’s said it envisioned a combined enrollment of more than 9,100. But this fall, the university enrolled 7,863 undergraduate and graduate students, a drop of 14.1% from 2021.

USciences had been struggling financially for years. It had an operating loss of $19.3 million on $84.9 million in revenue in the year ended June 30.

Staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed to this article.