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Last updated on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
(BLOOMINGTON) -The Indiana University Foundation has purchased land at 10th Street and the Indiana 45/46 Bypass for $4.6 million.
The University now owns all four corners of the intersection, including Tulip Tree apartments on the northwest corner and the Cyberinfrastructure Building on the northeast corner.
Associate Vice President of Communications Mark Land said the area might eventually be expanded to support UITS and its employees. There is no timetable for what will come.
For now, the University will extend the leases of area businesses, such as Scandinavian Imports, Oasis Chinese Restaurant and Karaoke and Sherwin Williams.
Tom Morrison, IU vice president for capital projects ad facilities, says the area could be developed to provide greater dining opportunities to the 600 employees that work at the Cyberinfrastructure Building, and that once construction is complete, it will be a more accessible intersection for Bloomington students and residents, which would include a pedestrian underpass at Seventh Street.
Although dining opportunities might bring greater revenue to the community, the loss of property taxes from University buildings may hurt local economy more than it helps it.
The City of Bloomington stands to lose more than $40,000 in uncollected funds, according to an estimate from a 2011 Geographic Information System report, and Monroe County schools and townships that benefit from that income might miss that revenue.
But in 2012 IU was rated the third "Most Wired" public university by Princeton Review and PC Magazine, and, with three acres free and more than 1 million square feet of developable space available for public-private business partnerships, the University is looking to extend this title.
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