For sale: University of Northern Iowa frat house has 24 bedrooms, not enough members

CEDAR FALLS — A large fraternity house is available to purchase for over $1.2 million in a prominent spot on the outskirts of the University of Northern Iowa campus.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers, who still live in the 14,122-square-foot building at 1115 W. 23rd St., said that membership numbers and finances had to do with deciding to rightsize and move on from the house.

The two-story house dates to 1998 and takes up a sizable portion of the block. It is known by passersby as the building with two white lion statues out front. It also has a purple roof and an emblem blinking with multiple colors.

“Back then when we built the building, we were near 100 members, but you’ve seen what’s happened to the university (enrollment) and we’ve had similar reductions,” said Robert Lee, president of Iowa Chi Chapter’s house corporation, which owns the building.

That’s led to a situation where the fraternity essentially had to force members to live there and, even so, the chapter has open beds. “Everyone now has to live in it, but not everyone wants to live together,” said Lee.

He said the housing corporation is doing “really well” financially, but “you don’t cash flow without every member living there” to pay rent to cover expenses like utilities, upkeep and property taxes.

Fall and spring 2023 academic reports, available on UNI’s website, had the chapter’s membership at 24 and 29, respectively, down from a spring 2022 total of 42. The oldest available report from spring 2013 had membership at 59.

The members will continue to live at the house through late May and, hopefully by then, a sale will be finalized, said Lee.

Members will be “on their own” for housing the next academic year. But Lee is confident that in the future the chapter will identify smaller living quarters — possibly for less than 10 members, maybe just officers — in order for some brothers to live together.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon, known by many as “SAE,” hosts its annual Paddy Murphy Week philanthropy in the springtime and has more than 220 chapters nationwide.

A Facebook post from Nov. 15, 2015, noted the day as marking the 100th anniversary of the fraternity at UNI and 50th anniversary as a Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter — after being originally founded as the Alpha Chi Epsilon fraternity.

The Jan. 22 real estate listing, first reported by The Northern Iowan, labels the building as being capable of housing 48 people and the half acre as a “redevelopment opportunity” for potentially multifamily housing, or a religious or campus-related purpose. The asking price recently dropped from $1.3 million to $1.225 million.

A city database indicates about nine rental properties immediately to the north and west surround the fraternity house. The St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center is next door and the university’s parking ramp is nearby.

The university is “not forcing them to sell” and the fraternity chapter — one of only two recognized by the institution in its 2023 reports versus the four in 2013 — is not facing any disciplinary action, according to Josh Farris, UNI’s fraternity and sorority life coordinator.

“They’re doing what makes sense for them,” Farris said. “They’re still an active fraternity and we will continue to support them whether they have a house or not.”

He said UNI is “not really” involved in fraternity housing decisions, especially when it involves a private building, and therefore could not provide additional details.

The real estate said the house has 24 bedrooms, a kitchenette, library, recreation room, breakfast area, lounge, other common area space and a walkout level in the back with a 27-vehicle parking lot.

“We’ve gotten serious interest,” said Matt Miehe, the Fischels Commercial and Residential Group broker handling the listing, when reached by telephone.

UNI is not interested in buying the property at this time, a spokesperson and Lee said. Miehe declined to name the possible suitors. Lee says demolition — or in his words, “starting over” — hasn’t been discussed.

“It was a very hard decision. Nobody wanted it to come to this, but everyone agrees that it has to happen,” said Lee. “Plan B was recruiting more members and that just wasn’t happening.”