Rowan cites eminent domain in bid to expand in Camden

Rowan University plans to purchase a downtown Camden landmark through eminent domain in an effort to triple the number of students it educates in the city, school officials announced yesterday.

The university, based in Glassboro, was allotted $5 million by the state seven years ago to construct a building in Camden. Instead, Rowan intends to acquire a former bank at Cooper Street and Broadway, and convert it into classrooms and offices.

Rowan said it offered the building's owners $3.14 million, 10 percent above the appraised value of $2.85 million, and was rejected.

Under New Jersey law, universities can obtain property through eminent domain over the objection of the owner. Rowan filed paperwork in Camden County Superior Court yesterday to do that, university spokesman Joe Cardona said.

If approved for eminent domain, a judge would set the purchase price.

"One of the obstacles to the overall redevelopment of Camden is that important pieces of real estate are tied up by speculators," said Donald Farish, the university's president, in a statement. "It is essential that public entities have the ability and courage to undertake projects for the public good."

Efforts to reach the property owner, Quercus Alba L.L.C. of New York City, were unsuccessful yesterday.

The First Camden National Bank & Trust building was constructed more than 80 years ago at a cost of $825,000, according to DVRBS.com, a local historical Web site.

Quercus Alba purchased the building and an adjoining three-story annex in November 2003 for a total of $2.7 million. The Latin American Economic Development Association is the only tenant in the former bank; four small retail outlets are in the annex.

If it succeeds in obtaining the property, Rowan said, the tenants would remain. The property would be renovated into administrative and faculty offices and classrooms. The school hopes to expand its student body in Camden to 1,500 from the current 500, Cardona said.

The university has had a Camden presence since 1969. Rowan and Camden County College share space across the street from the bank, and all credits earned at Camden County College are transferable to Rowan.

As part of a 2002 state law that sent $175 million to Camden, Rowan was given $5 million in matching funds to build an academic building at Third and Cooper Streets. It can reapply to receive matching funds for the new project, according to the state Economic Recovery Board, which disperses money to Camden.

Rowan's construction plan collapsed in July because its contract with the Camden Redevelopment Agency expired before all the necessary properties were acquired. The school spent $4.2 million for those acquisitions.

That parcel is now being eyed by Rutgers University-Camden for a new dormitory. The state Assembly approved a bill this month that would send a $1.8 million grant to the Camden County Improvement Authority to fund a Rutgers-Camden dormitory.