AIB gift agreement: UI has no current plans to sell

A new 'gift agreement” to transfer the 20-acre AIB College of Business campus in Des Moines to the University of Iowa articulates expectations the property will be used for higher education programming benefiting nearby residents.

Officials with AIB, UI and the state Board of Regents have spent months researching the proposed donation - valued at $21.55 million - and drafting the agreement, which the regents will consider at their meeting next week.

'The University of Iowa acknowledges it has no current plan or intention to sell or transfer the asset to a third party for economic purposes,” according to the gift agreement.

'However, the University of Iowa has disclosed fully to AIB administration its participation in a Board of Regents' assessment of longer-term educational needs in greater Des Moines,” according to the agreement.

That assessment will evaluate whether AIB's campus - three miles from downtown Des Moines - is the 'optimal location” for a Regents Resource Center offering programming from UI, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa.

According to a recent request for proposals from vendors interested in conducting that assessment, the board seeks a review of the 'desirability of the AIB site against other general locations in the Des Moines metro area.”

Although UI in the new gift agreement, which was made public Tuesday, says it doesn't plan to sell the AIB property, it stipulated that any proceeds of a sale 'would be used for student financial aid or for continued support of Des Moines area academic programming.”

The proposed property transfer, scheduled to take place next July 1, includes five buildings that AIB has used for academic and housing programming. The campus includes buildings previously used for housing, but AIB recently announced plans to sell three of its apartment buildings 'to raise funds to continue the college's programming this academic year and to have funds available to cover post-closing contingencies.”

In preparation for the proposed transfer, officials spent the summer assessing the AIB facilities. They identified fire safety projects needed to modernize alarm systems and extend fire suppression systems in the five buildings.

Those upgrades are expected to cost about $215,000, according to the agreement. UI also will be responsible for paying all recording fees and closing costs related to the assets transfer.

When AIB in January announced plans to close its 95-year-old campus, the plan was to turn it into a satellite UI campus in Des Moines. But those plans quickly shifted to a regent center that would allow Iowa's other public universities to offer programming there.

At present, however, UI is the only institution planning to offer courses on site during the first fall in its new form. UI students in fall 2016 will have the opportunity to pursue bachelor's degrees in social work, sports and recreation management or enterprise leadership on the former AIB campus.

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