St. Joseph’s University Puts West Philadelphia Campus Up For Sale
One of University City’s educational anchors is shrinking its real estate footprint in the neighborhood, the latest Philly-area institution to shed buildings in recent months.
St. Joseph’s University listed its West Philadelphia campus for sale with JLL. Some of the properties are being marketed individually, but the entire campus can also be purchased as a package.
A six-story dormitory building and a former library are up for grabs alongside structures that used to house lecture halls, a gym, a student center and more.
SJU inherited the former University of the Sciences campus along Woodland Avenue when it purchased the school in 2022. That’s when it began the process of consolidating undergraduate operations at its main Hawk Hill campus straddling the border between Philly and Lower Merion Township.
“While it’s difficult to predict the future with certainty, there are no current plans to fully exit University City,” an SJU spokesperson told Bisnow in a statement.
“University City will continue to serve as the hub for our graduate health professions programs, supporting students engaged in advanced education, research and clinical assignments… For now, it remains an integral part of our mission and commitment to meeting the needs of our health professions students.”
The school will lease back some of the space it currently holds in West Philly if the entire campus sells, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“Interest is strong,” Vice President for Administration and Operations Jill Dougherty Cleary told the outlet. “We do have some offers on our outlier properties.”
Some of those inquiries came from other educational institutions, but SJU has fielded some from other sectors as well.
The campus nestled between Clark Park and the historic Woodlands Cemetery is at the center of an increasingly trendy residential neighborhood.
SJU isn’t the only Philly school offloading properties.
The former University of the Arts campus in Center City is being auctioned off after the institution abruptly closed and filed for bankruptcy last year. The nine properties are worth a collective $163.3M, WHYY reported.
Temple University won UArts' Terra Hall building on the corner of Broad and Walnut streets with an $18M bid. The school’s Center City campus will move there after its lease at 1515 Market St. expires in 2027.
Temple was also interested in the Philadelphia Art Alliance building at 18th and Manning streets but was beaten by the Curtis Institute for Music, which placed a successful $7.6M bid earlier this month.
Developer Allan Domb was also interested in the Art Alliance building, but he eventually withdrew his $6.5M bid.
The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office has objected to the sale of the property to entities other than educational institutions.
The office cited a restrictive deed covenant requiring that it be used “exclusively for the purposes of education, exhibition, discourse and general public benefit,” WHYY reported.
