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About NMH Northfield
Northfield Campus Reuse Scenarios
Preliminary conclusions and recommended next steps submitted to
the NSC of the board by Bidwell Advisors, Northampton, MA
October 14, 2004
Executive Summary
Since July of 2004, the Bidwell Advisors-LandVest team has worked with President
Richard W. Mueller and the Northfield Stewardship Committee to evaluate a range
of potential reuse scenarios for the Northfield Campus of the Northfield Mount
Hermon School, relying on direct market feedback from various developers and
other experts as well as additional research. This report presents the findings
and recommendations flowing from these investigations, with the expectation
that subsequent analysis and financial projections will make it possible to
implement a specific marketing strategy for the campus.
The conclusions and recommendations from this initial phase of work can be
summarized as follows:
- Core campus vs. outlying properties. The School should remain focused
on identifying viable and sustainable uses for the core campus as the
economic engine that will drive the value of the School’s other properties
to the East of the Connecticut River, while generally resisting temptations
to quickly dispose of outlying properties. Once a range of values for these
outlying properties has been developed, however, it might be reasonable
in the years ahead to consider generating revenue from disposition
of some of those assets deemed not critical to the emerging strategy for
reuse of the core.
- A one-user Scenario. We believe that the greatest economic value
of the Northfield Campus can be realized through a user, or a group
of related users, in position to utilize all or most of the campus.
Value would be lost if pieces of the whole were considered separately
for unrelated uses. An initial phase of a marketing plan should
focus on this one-user scenario, recognizing that it will likely
take time to find the one user, or one cluster of related users,
in position to undertake the reuse of such a large amount of real
estate.
- A residential education institution. The preferred option would
be to attract a residential educational institution of considerable
scale and at a point in its history when it was seeking an intact
educational campus. There are a small number of precedents for
existing colleges relocating some distance to an intact campus. There are
also examples of new colleges or secondary schools –
especially private proprietary schools – seeking to acquire and
convert existing educational campuses. The advantages of attracting
such a residential educational user are so compelling that we believe
such a scenario should be aggressively pursued.
- Other single-user possibilities. Other examples exist of philanthropic
dollars, married to mission and causes, producing new institutes
or centers of some sort in search of a location. Among the possibilities
in this area would be an institute of international education
or of international relations, a small business incubator complex
driven by regional economic development priorities, or a cluster
of arts organizations drawing on the region’s creative
resources.
- Relocation of a major government agency or institute. Another
one-use scenario worthy of further exploration through political
channels is the possibility that a major government organization
might be interested in relocating from a landlocked urban
setting to a more remote and campus-like location.
- How long to wait for a one-user solution? Further financial analysis
will help address the critical question of how long the School
should pursue a one-user solution before shifting to a multi-user scenario.
- Multiple user scenarios. If pursuit of the preferred one-user
scenario is unproductive, a phased, multiple-use scenario
should be developed, recognizing the critical importance of selecting the
right well-capitalized master developer, of assuring the
linkage of uses through a core theme and tone, and of devoting resources
to the maintenance of buildings and grounds as phases of
development unfold over time.
- Possible components of a multiple-use scenario. Among
the uses that we believe could be strong contributors to
a mix of mutually-reinforcing uses are: retirement housing,
perhaps geared to the younger “life-style” retirement
segment; market or mixed-income residential units; hotel,
inn, restaurant, banquet and other tourism and hospitality-related
uses; performing arts related uses; recreation-related uses;
and uses related to religious bodies.
- Sale, lease or joint venture. The School’s desire to
structure an arrangement with a user or users that would
retain ultimate control of the property for the School
might be possible in some scenarios through lease or joint
venture arrangements. But it is also possible that some
attractive user scenarios might emerge that could not be
consummated other than on an outright sale basis.
- Cautions. A sense of excitement or encouragement about
the viability of various reuse scenarios should be tempered
with the reality that any marketing effort will have to
overcome some inescapable challenges facing the School:
the sheer size of the property would be daunting in any
marketplace at any time; for many developers and institutions
centered in New York or Boston, the perception of Northfield’s
remoteness will be challenging to overcome; under many
circumstances the reuse of existing buildings, no matter
how charming, would be difficult or impossible; concerns
about the condition and capacity of infrastructure (heating
systems, water and sewage systems, etc.) will have to
be addressed.
- Recommended next steps. We recommend that a series of additional
tasks of research, analysis and outreach should be undertaken
en route to the development of a specific and targeted marketing plan.
These tasks include: refinement of reuse criteria and development
of a marketing timetable; development of financial projections
for specific reuse scenarios considered plausible and consistent
with campus reuse criteria; pursuit of various outreach and
visibility measures aimed at exposing large numbers of political figures
and potential user groups to the unique opportunity presented by the
Northfield Campus; and use of small gatherings and additional
research to refine reuse scenarios involving education, the arts, hospitality-related
uses, and government agency relocation.
All of this work would be aimed at the development of a
marketing plan that could be implemented according to a
timetable specified by the School’s
Board of Trustees.
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