Unity Environmental University has officially listed its 225-acre Waldo County campus for sale.
A&G Real Estate Partners is representing the property and accepting offers for the Unity campus on behalf of the university. While there isn’t a listed asking price, the 90 Quaker Hill Road campus was assessed by the town at just under $26.8 million in 2022, according to town records.
Unity town officials met with the university in late July to discuss the potential sale and future ownership options that would benefit the town as a whole, but said the ball was ultimately in the school’s court at the town’s Aug. 1 Select Board meeting.
Given its current facilities, there are a number of potential options that would make sense for future owners of the campus, said A&G Co-President Emilio Amendola, who heads the New York-based firm’s real estate sales division. It could become senior housing, a rearch facility, another educational institution or even a spiritual retreat, he said.
The university has undergone a dramatic shift since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, de-emphasizing the presence of students on campus. The main campus was relocated to New Gloucester in southern Maine and classes shifted to a hybrid learning model with most students attending classes remotely.
Last month, university President Melik Peter Khoury announced the school was considering selling the campus because there weren’t enough students there. Only about 60 students attended classes there in person last year despite record enrollment numbers.
This comes two months after Unity made headlines for another potential use. But although the Greater Portland Council of Governments floated Unity’s campus as a potential site to host asylum seekers who will be ousted from the Portland Expo later this month, the proposal didn’t have funding or a concrete plan attached to it. Unity Environmental University officials said they were open to the idea but wouldn’t really consider it until those elements were submitted. Meanwhile, the state didn’t issue an official response to the proposal.
While the property is now listed for sale, university leadership maintains it would still keep the Unity location if it gets enough students back on campus.
“We continue on the same three tracks: selling, leasing or bringing in enough students to ensure the 90 Quaker Hill property is not significantly underutilized,” Khoury said.
