UWG News Archive

Brookwood purchase completed

November 2, 2004

CARROLLTON, GA - The University of West Georgia Foundation purchased the Brookwood Apartments property from the Carrollton Housing Authority (CHA) Friday, completing an agreement made in August.

The final purchase price was $5.7 million.

UWG News Photo The complex will add 23 acres to the University’s property at its north entrance near the Townsend Center for the Performing Arts. The property became available when the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave the CHA new directives making it necessary to sell the Brookwood complex, according to Harlan Carroll, chairman of the CHA.

“We just could not keep the property and still receive what funds we get from HUD,” Carroll said, adding that CHA Executive Director Sandra Morris will continue to manage the property for the residents of Brookwood. “The board didn’t always agree on how we would do what we knew we had to do. This is a really good thing and solves the CHA financial challenges.”

Eddie Cole, chair for the West Georgia Foundation, Inc. Board of Trustees, said that is the intent of the foundation to manage the property as is.

Cole pointed out the CHA will continue to manage the property and it’s in the combined interest of the CHA and West Georgia Foundation to maintain this occupancy as long as it’s practical.

Cole also added that it took many “dynamic” people to put the acquisition together.

“We very much appreciate what (SunTrust Group Vice President) Cheryl Gaines and SunTrust Bank are doing for our foundation and for the University,” Cole said. “The CHA and its Board of Directors gave us the opportunity to come to the table and we are grateful. Region’s Bank made concessions regarding the CHA loan, which was important.”

Cole also thanked the foundation trustees, especially former board chair Phil Kauffman and University System of Georgia officials.

“The trustees have been so steadfast in their vision,” Cole explained. “This property is a critical piece for the University.”

Since the University did not own the property during the recent Facilities Master Plan Update, no concrete plans have been made as to its use. The land eventually will be designated as mixed use, leaving open the possibilities for student housing, parking, academic facilities or other functions.

Cole pointed out that the city of Carrollton recently granted land to the University and “today, we are buying more land for the future of the University,” he said.

“Often it is difficult to step back and take the view of what will be good 15 years from now,” Cole said. “For the good of the city, the county and the University, we will be able to prove in the long term that this is the right thing to do. Vision is a word that fits today’s occasion.”

UWG President Dr. Beheruz N. Sethna praised the foundation and its members for their foresight in purchasing the Brookwood property for the long-term needs of UWG.

“In America today, we often bemoan the short-term, next quarter perspective of those who lead. I am pleased that, in the matter of the Brookwood purchase, my senior colleagues and I, the UWG Foundation Board, the CHA Board, the City, the banks, and all our supporters have taken the long-term, visionary approach. The benefits of what we do today will not be obvious tomorrow,” Sethna said.

“However, I have every confidence that generations of UWG students, faculty, and administrators, and the people and leaders of our broader community will benefit significantly from our action this morning. In the future, perhaps 10 or 15 years from now, and certainly further out than that, they will look back on today's actions and thank us for the stand we took and the vision we had,” Sethna concluded.

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