The Board’s vote authorizes Chris Sharp, AC’s vice president of business affairs, to close the transaction on the property that is located at 716 I-40 West, where Washington Street spans the interstate.

AC has no immediate plans to alter or occupy the building, which is currently under lease to a furniture retail business through August of this year. However, the College aspires to use the property in the next 3-5 years to relocate some of its technical education programs currently being delivered on the East Campus.

Technical education programs that could one day be offered at the new, more accessible location are, among others, machining technology, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and welding.

"This is a very good deal at a very fair price," Sharp said. "That, along with the opportunity it gives us to one day move some of our technical education programs to a more convenient location, one very near our largest campus on Washington Street, is what convinced us that this is an especially prudent acquisition for the College to pursue."