Since going to a virtual, national model and an environmentally focused curriculum and relocating to New Gloucester, Maine, about 90 minutes further south and closer to Portland, the former Unity College (now Unity Environmental University) is offering for purchase its 225-acre “secondary teaching location” in Unity, Maine. The property is being marketed by A&G Real Estate Partners. “The Quaker Hill Road property represents an extraordinary opportunity for a wide array of potential users,” said Dr. Melik Peter Khoury, president of the university, in a release earlier this month. Its unique assets include an off-the-grid house with solar panels, a dorm that runs on biomass, a heritage livestock barn and a public library.
“The University is bucking the trend of distress in higher education in a remarkable way,” said Emilio Amendola, co-president of A&G. “It is operating in the black, launching new degree programs, and has grown from 600 to more than 7,500 students in just a few years, with projections of 10,000 students by 2025. This summer, it welcomed about 1,000 new full-time students — its largest-ever incoming class.” Noting the property’s strong potential for senior housing, Amendola said there are other possibilities too: “The bucolic setting makes it the perfect place for a camp, spiritual retreat or recreational center, and the high-speed internet access and well-equipped science labs also offer the possibility of a remote research facility. It's quite a mix.”
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