Fijis sign deal to switch land

The IU Foundation recently signed a deal with Phi Gamma Delta to trade properties, allowing the Foundation to take Fiji’s property between the Maurer School of Law and the Department of Physics and give Fiji space at the corner of Eighth Street and Woodlawn Avenue.

The switch will not take effect for at least another three years.

“The deal won’t actually be consummated until the Fijis have the money to start building a house,” said Mark Land, associate vice president, public affairs and government relations at IU communications.

Though the Fijis were given three years, Land said this length of time is not exact.
 
“They were given about three and a half years to raise the money,” Land said. “There’s no assumption that they won’t, but we had to put something out there, some kind of a time frame, in case they couldn’t get the money together for the new house, then at some point the deal would be voided. We’d just go back to where we were, where we are now.”

Land said the designated time frame is to ensure there is some ending time on the land swap deal. 

“The goal here is for the University, ultimately, to get control of that piece of property, the Fiji house, on the corner of campus, and use it for whatever purpose we deem fit,” Land said. “On Fiji’s side, their goal is to get a new house.”

Land said one of the aspects of the agreement is the University will retain control over the architectural standards of the house that would be built for the fraternity, ensuring the house remains in character with other buildings in the neighborhood.

“It’s in the University’s interest to make it look as much a part of that neighborhood, both for the community and our University neighborhood, as possible,” Land said.

“There’s not going to be something built there that is out of character with what people already see.”

According to a press release, some of the structures around Eighth Street and Woodlawn Avenue date back to the 1920s and ’30s.

Bloomington’s Historic Preservation Commission met June 27 to discuss six properties in the University Courts district.

However, the commission does not know yet what may happen to the houses and has nothing to act on currently, according to Nancy Hiestand, Housing and Neighborhood Development Department program director.

The property swap would put Phi Gamma Delta right next to Kappa Alpha Theta sorority on Woodlawn Avenue.

The Collins Living-Learning Center and the Hutton Honors College are other buildings in the area with which the new Fiji house would have to keep the character if it is to be built there.