Birmingham-Southern Launches Nationwide Search for Buyer of Closed Campus

The search for a buyer for the closed Birmingham-Southern College campus is expanding beyond Alabama.

The college announced today that it’s extending its efforts nationwide to find a buyer for the 192-acre campus in west Birmingham.

Birmingham-Southern, which closed on May 31 due to financial struggles, is collaborating with a New York-based real estate brokerage and investment banking firm to market the sale.

“BSC continues to have productive discussions with prospective buyers from within Alabama,” said Daniel Coleman, president of Birmingham-Southern, in an emailed statement to AL.com. “However, given our responsibility to obtain the best price on the best terms for the campus, we are also open to approaches from outside the state. We will not disclose the details of our interactions with any prospective buyers.”

Keen-Summit Capital Partners LLC and JLL executive vice president Hugo Isom of Birmingham are working with Birmingham-Southern on the sale. They are promoting it as a “rare opportunity” to purchase the “largest college campus for sale” in the United States.

“This is the premier college campus available for sale in the U.S. right now,” said David Levy, managing director of Keen-Summit Capital Partners LLC, in the news release. “It would be perfect for a college or university looking to expand or establish a satellite medical, technology, life science, or other specialty campus.”

The announcement highlights the nearly 1.2-million-square-foot college campus’ location near the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, making it “accessible to a global population,” as well as its proximity to downtown Birmingham and cultural centers like the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Rickwood Field, and the McWane Science Center.

The partner firm lists other qualities for the campus located at 900 Arkadelphia Road, including its 19 academic and administrative buildings, 34 student housing facilities for about 1,600 students, 24 single-family homes, and athletic facilities.

Uncertainty about the future of the Bush Hills campus has swirled in the months since the college’s closure.

In June, Birmingham-Southern signed a letter of intent with Miles College, a private historically Black college in nearby Fairfield. Birmingham-Southern would not specifically comment on the status of those negotiations.

Multiple offers by Alabama A&M University to buy the campus – an initial $52 million offer in May followed by another offer of $65.5 million – failed.

The listing for the campus was posted on Keen-Summit’s website on July 23.

Birmingham-Southern’s campus, buildings, and equipment had a roughly $65 million value last year, according to an audit and tax records the college filed with the IRS.

Birmingham-Southern was financially strapped in the years leading up to its closure. But the 168-year-old institution had financial troubles going back decades. In March, the board of trustees voted to cease operations, blaming the state treasurer’s denial of a $30 million bridge loan.

Because the college owes ServisFirst Bank $16.5 million, the bank has first claim to proceeds from the sale of the campus.