University of Minnesota’s president’s residence will be sold

The University of Minnesota will no longer own its president’s residence.

The university’s Board of Regents approved the $2.2 million sale of Eastcliff mansion, which has housed University of Minnesota presidents for six decades, to the University of Minnesota Foundation on Thursday.

The board voted 9-2 for the sale, with one regent absent.

Regent Ruth Johnson, who is also on the foundation’s Board of Trustees, advocated for others to vote for the sale. She said the change in ownership was an “excellent way of managing finances.”

“We don’t want to have to raise tuition or do anything else to raise more money as part of the Board of Regents for the university in order to do maintenance on Eastcliff,” Johnson said. “It’s a fantastic deal.”

Regent James Farnsworth voted against the sale. He joined the meeting virtually and said the sale option came to the board too quickly and “didn’t feel right” to him.

“I think us, as the governing board of a public land grant university, have a responsibility to oversee and govern our institutional assets. ... I don’t see this agreement or this proposed real estate transaction necessary in any way,” Farnsworth said.

U President Rebecca Cunningham will move into Eastcliff in December following the renovations, per her employment agreement. Gov. Tim Walz resided in Eastcliff from 2023 until earlier this year while the governor’s residence was being renovated.

University spokesperson Joe Linstroth said the date of Eastcliff’s sale has not been selected. The mansion was built in the 1920s by lumber magnate Edward Brooks Sr. The Brooks family donated the house to the U in 1958.

The N. Mississippi River Boulevard property is now worth $2.9 million according to Ramsey County property tax documents.

Regent Kodi Verhalen said one of the reasons she voted for the sale was because the university can buy the home back after 40 years.

“It gives us the opportunity to have this asset transferred back to the University of Minnesota at no cost, upon deprivation of the ground lease,” she said, “including all of the improvements that the foundation makes to the property.”

The decision to sell the mansion has been tossed around since 2022. During the pandemic, fewer events were held at Eastcliff while upkeep expenses grew.

A task force suggested the university maintain ownership of Eastcliff in 2024, after 18 months of researching and evaluating the costs. The regents agreed and the university decided to keep the residence. Instead of using public funds, the university asked for donations for maintenance. The money spent on the residence was reallocated to other university costs.

Regents Farnsworth and Robyn Gulley voted against the sale, both bringing up the 2024 decision to maintain ownership.

Gulley raised concerns about the public’s ability to know what’s going on with Eastcliff.

“Taking it out of the realm of the Board of Regents would make the whole process less transparent and less available to the public,” she said. “We wouldn’t have the same governance over Eastcliff if we turned it over.”

“We can’t run a public university this way,” he said about the foundation spending $8 million to buy and renovate the house. “$2.2 million is going to be transferred out of the endowment, and that’s $2.2 million less that can be earning income.”

Executive Vice President for Finance and Operations Gregg Goldman said decaying campus assets will get the money and support they need with the money saved by selling Eastcliff.

“A lot of these [buildings] are being held together with bubble gum and bailing wire,” he said. “To have one less old building, honestly, that we have to maintain, to me, there is no other choice but truly to support this resolution.”