University of Dayton wants to buy NCR headquarters property

DAYTON — The University of Dayton is negotiating with NCR Corp. to purchase its world headquarters and the surrounding 105 acres.

"The University of Dayton has entered into discussions with NCR Corp. to purchase its former world headquarters," at 1700 S. Patterson Blvd. [MAP] "and the surrounding 105 acres," said Teri Rizvi, university spokeswoman, on Monday, Oct. 12.

"The university can release no other information while discussions are ongoing," Rizvi said.

NCR earlier said only that it has put its Dayton headquarters up for sale.

"We are declining to comment further regarding the sale process," the company said in a statement issued by spokesman Peter Tulupman.

In early June, NCR announced it was moving its headquarters and most of 1,300 Dayton jobs to the Atlanta area by the end of 2010.

The company, whose products include automated teller machines and retail business checkout systems, has been based in Dayton for 125 years.

The purchase of NCR headquarters would add to the university's real estate acquisitions from the company in recent years.

UD bought approximately 50 acres of land and buildings, between Patterson Boulevard and Stewart Street, from NCR in 2005. An acquisition of NCR's red-brick headquarters building and surrounding property along Patterson Boulevard and the Great Miami River would continue the university's pattern of expanding its campus west.

UD looks at expansion in terms of both the university and community's needs, UD President Daniel J. Curran said on Monday before the university confirmed it is in talks to acquire the NCR property.

"We do many things for the university but it's always filtered by how it will impact on the greater Dayton community and how it will provide for growth for the community," Curran said.

If the University of Dayton buys the NCR Corp. world headquarters property, the deal would benefit the region by keeping the prime property under local control, said state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering.

"It does have great potential for both the university and the local economy, particularly if as part of the plan, the university would create a technology and business incubator that would leverage the technology that the (UD) Research Institute is involved in," Husted said Monday, Oct. 12.

Mickey McCabe, UD's vice president for research who oversees the University of Dayton Research Institute, referred questions to Teri Rizvi, the university's spokeswoman.

Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin said a UD purchase of NCR headquarters would be positive overall for the area.

"The chances of a company coming in and taking all that property is a long-term process," McLin said.

"Yes, it does come off the property tax, which will have a direct impact on the schools. But on the other hand, with Dayton being named an aerospace hub with the amount of research it does, (UD) could be second to Georgia Tech with incubating businesses and bringing jobs. This is where we are moving."

UD and NCR have made deals before.

In 2005, UD purchased land, two buildings, two parking lots and two practice fields from NCR for $25 million, expanding its campus by nearly 25 percent.

NCR retained $7 million in participation rights in any commercial development of the land.

In December 2008, NCR donated the equivalent of $5 million to UD by relinquishing all participation rights in the commercial development of the 50-acre parcel UD bought in 2005.

The property, part of which is considered a brownfield, has remained largely unused since the 1970s when NCR removed most of its manufacturing facilities.

UD has received nearly $11 million from the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for environmental cleanup and infrastructure improvements.

Moving university offices and programs into the College Park Center, a former NCR building at 1529 Brown Street acquired as part of the 2005 deal, has "allowed us to use space on campus more efficiently," Curran said.

UD is constructing a campus gateway along West Stewart Street east of the Great Miami River. It will include stone signs for the university at the intersections of West Stewart Street and both South Main Street and South Patterson Boulevard, according to UD officials. The intersections also will feature flower beds, brick pillars and brick pavers.

The university will be doing work on the parcel of land between Brown Street and South Main Street in the immediate future, working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Curran said.

The university's redevelopment of the former NCR land has "transformed an area that was dormant for an extended period of time into something that will be useful for the city in the future," Curran said.

On Monday, UD was named among the nation's top 25 universities helping to save America's cities from blight.

UD tied for No. 2 overall and ranked No. 1 among Catholic universities in the 2009 "Saviors of Our Cities" survey announced Monday at the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities annual conference in Philadelphia.

Many U.S. cities that once depended on corporations and large populations are struggling to survive, Curran said.

"The economy and other variables have pushed the universities to the front and we're being asked to do more and more," he said.

As of Jan. 1, 2009, NCR operated 211 facilities consisting of approximately 6.8 million square feet in 59 countries worldwide, the company has told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a regulatory filing. The portfolio included 23 research and development and manufacturing facilities totaling 2.1 million square feet. The remaining 4.7 million square feet of space includes office, repair, warehouse and miscellaneous sites.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2419 or dlarsen@DaytonDailyNews.com. Staff Writer Steve Bennish contributed to this report.

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