By Lindsey Collom
State Press
The Arizona Board of Regents approved unanimously last week ASU's request to spend $8.8 million on purchasing the Mercado, the site of ASU's Downtown Center for nearly a decade.
Approval was contingent upon the Regent's waving of ABOR policy 2-205 -- prohibiting the purchase of facilities for an off-campus center.
The vote also signaled Regent support of ASU's decision to sell Certificates of Participation, a financing mechanism allowing a third party to provide additional capital.
Responding to student questions regarding the equitability of the purchase, ASU President Lattie Coor said the acquisition would reap monetary benefits.
"We have some very clear indications of profit," Coor said. "With this step, we can own the parcel for what we would pay in rent at the end of ten years. That is an extraordinarily prudent fiscal arrangement."
Following Regent approval, ASU will begin to seek tenants to lease the Mercado's unoccupied offices, Coor added.
"Is it more space than needed for educational purposes? Yes," Coor said. "And it is now our challenge to find an effective way to have the other space make its own way financially while we (ASU) manage the educational space."
Coor said the Mercado attests to ASU's flexibility and convenience, while serving as the home of an extended campus that could pave the way for educational needs of the future.
More than 450,000 people have utilized the ASU Downtown Center since 1986. ASU anticipates that more than 70,000 people will attend classes, conferences, lectures, meetings and workshops at the center during fiscal year 2001.
"This is a departure from our normal policy," Regent President-Elect Don Ulrich said. "However, I can tell you that I think this is probably a very good deal because it's a project that pays for itself in time."
Ulrich also said the purchase is safe because of its exit strategy. If the Mercado investment proves unfruitful, it can easily be sold because of its prime location.
"Could we stay (at the Mercado) in a way that was financially prudent for us, we wouldn't need to purchase (it)," Coor said. "Since we can't, it has the free-standing qualities of a setting that makes it a prudent purchase."
Reporter Lindsey Collom can be reached by phone at (480) 965-2292 or by e-mail at ezralite29@aol.com.
