Schools and universities
Many campuses carry a tower or an antenna site.
The transaction
Here is what changes, and what does not.
- What your institution sells
- Your district or institution sells the lease and the income it produces, together with an easement over the ground or the structure the equipment occupies. The easement is what allows us to continue granting the tenant its rights under the lease. The campus, its buildings, and their use are unaffected.
- What your institution keeps
- Your institution continues to hold title to the property, and nothing changes on campus. The tenant keeps operating under the same agreement it has today, with the same access it has now.
- How you are paid
- The purchase price is paid in immediately available funds at closing. Where it suits your budget or tax position, the proceeds can instead be structured as a series of payments. A recurring lease payment becomes a one-time receipt that can be directed as the board decides.
Your approval process
We work within the way your board decides.
Campus property moves on a schedule set by board meetings and policy, so we start by asking what yours requires.
- We expect that a school board, a board of trustees, or a board of regents will need to approve the sale, often in a public meeting. We build that into the schedule rather than around it.
- Where your policies call for an appraisal, a published notice, or review by counsel or a foundation board, we work within them and provide whatever your staff need to prepare the item.
- We prepare the offer and the supporting documents so that they can go directly into a board packet. We will work with the board in whatever way suits it best.
Can a school district or a university sell a lease interest like this?
In most cases yes, under the institution’s authority to dispose of property interests. The specific requirements depend on whether the institution is public or private and on state law. Your counsel will know the process, and we will work within it.
Does anything change for students or staff?
No. The equipment stays where it is, the tenant’s access remains what it is today, and the transaction is invisible on campus.
How does the payment show up in our budget?
As a one-time receipt rather than an annual lease revenue line. Many institutions direct it to a capital project or a fund, though how it is treated is a decision for your finance staff.
What if the antennas are ever removed?
The purchase is a sale rather than a loan, so we have no claim against you if the rent later falls or the tenant leaves. If the tenant were ever to take its equipment down, your institution would keep the full purchase price and would owe us nothing.
