ABSTRACT
How does a small arts and theological university come to be a major landowner and commercial landlord in the middle of Toronto, Canada's largest city and Ontario's provincial capital? What does it take to turn university property into endowment real estate? And what impact does the university as developer have on its surrounding community? Some answers to these questions can be found by analyzing three different real estate initiatives of Victoria University. The projects have two common elements: each represents a decision to use property to generate revenue to support the academy rather than for facilities of the university; and each represents a decision to generate revenue by leasing university property rather than by selling it and converting the proceeds to other assets commonly found in endowment portfolios.
