BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Between Sept. 9 and Dec. 29, Medaille University sold six of its properties to Trocaire College, according to records from the Erie County Clerk’s office.
All six buildings are located on Humboldt Parkway, adjacent to Medaille’s campus. They were sold for a total of $1,960,256 — around $326,000 per building.
According to the Google Maps listings, several of the buildings were listed as Medaille offices, including Adult Graduate Admissions (85 Humboldt Pkwy), the Applied Social Sciences faculty offices (103 Humboldt Pkwy), the Wellness Center (117 Humboldt Pkwy), and the Community Partnerships office (121 Humboldt Pkwy).
Trocaire’s campus is located at 360 Choate Ave. in South Buffalo, while Medaille’s is located at 18 Agassiz Circle, near the border of North Buffalo and the Parkside neighborhood. Medaille also has a nine-classroom campus in Rochester at 1880 South Winton Road.
Last August, Medaille and Trocaire signed a Memorandum of Understanding, after discussions began in October of 2021. According to the announcement, the MOU will fulfill the missions of both institutions into the future.
Committees comprised of trustees from both schools formed to “negotiate and review respective operations, financial information, campus infrastructure and other considerations,” per the announcement.
The announcement of the cooperative agreement said the transition process would take 12-18 months.
Medaille Interim President Dr. Lori Quigley, who took on her position after Dr. Kenneth Macur retired as president on June 20, said in a prior prepared statement that the agreement will provide both institutions with a full range of higher education credentials at all levels — from certificate to doctoral. She said the combination of healthcare and social sciences, business, and education programs will help serve both schools’ students.
Trocaire College President Dr. Bassam Deeb attributed the agreement’s signing to the impacts of COVID-19 on higher ed institutions, as well as declining birth rates and college enrollment.
In the announcement, Dr. Deeb said there is “a lot of information” that will need to be assessed to provide answers to questions from students at both schools regarding the agreement.
“The real work begins now, as we start the process of transparently engaging stakeholders from Trocaire and Medaille as we work toward fulfilling this mission,” Dr. Quigley said in August.
News 4 reached out to Medaille on Monday for an update on the MOU and for comment on the sale of the Humboldt properties.
“At this point in time, we are not responding to media inquiries,” Dr. Quigley said.
News 4 reached out to Trocaire on Tuesday and is awaiting a response.
It remains unknown what next steps may be in the “transition process” cited in the Memorandum of Understanding. News 4 will provide updates as this story develops.
Below is the collection of property transfer documents News 4 obtained from the Erie County Clerk’s office.