Quinnipiac has officially purchased the Blue Cross and Blue Shield campus on Bassett Road from WellPoint, Inc., Patrick J. Healy, senior vice president for finance and administration at Quinnipiac, announced Sept. 27.
“Completing the purchase agreement for the North Haven Campus is an important milestone in our plans to create a graduate education center on the site,” said President John L. Lahey.
Quinnipiac will renovate a vacant 150,000-square-foot building on the 104-acre campus to accommodate the first graduate programs that will move to the site in 2009. Currently, Quinnipiac has 2,000 students in its graduate programs, including its physician assistant program, which U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks among the best in the nation.
As part of the agreement, Quinnipiac is leasing back a portion of the North Haven site to Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
According to Healy, the University will gain access to other buildings totaling approximately 450,000 square feet over a 10-year period. In subsequent years, Quinnipiac will move more of its graduate programs to North Haven, creating a comprehensive graduate education center. No residential housing is planned for the North Haven Campus.
Quinnipiac’s plans to develop a graduate education center were among the reasons Money magazine gave when it recently named North Haven as one of the 100 best places to live.
“The Town of North Haven is very supportive of the Quinnipiac University graduate education center’s move to our community and for all of the educational and cultural opportunities it affords our citizens,” said North Haven First Selectman Kevin J. Kopetz. “We are pleased to learn that the final contract for the sale is complete. We look forward to new and exciting developments in the future.”
Moving the graduate programs to North Haven will free up valuable space on Quinnipiac’s main campus on Mount Carmel Avenue in Hamden.
The North Haven property will become Quinnipiac’s third campus. Earlier this year, Quinnipiac opened the $52 million TD Banknorth Sports Center on its new York Hill Campus in Hamden, which is located near the Mount Carmel Campus.
The University is continuing to develop the York Hill Campus by constructing additional residence halls, a student center and a parking garage on the 235-acre site.