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[[underlined]] Belmont Conference Center Property [[/underlined]]

Referring to the following report on the Belmont Conference Center, Mr. Ripley pointed out that the possibility of the sale of that property is continuing to be considered, particularly with the hope of consolidating the Institution's land holdings, possibly including another historic manor house, in the area of the Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies. It was agreed that the Audit and Review Committee would consider the future of the Belmont Conference Center before any decision would be reached regarding its eventual disposition.

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[[underlined]] Appraisal and Feasibility Study [[/underlined]]

A summary of the appraisal and feasibility study of Belmont was provided to the Regents at the May 1979 meeting. These showed that the market value of the Conference Center, improvements, and 362 acres of land, was approximately $1,672,000 as of January 1979; we have not obtained any revised figure from the appraiser since that date. The feasibility study indicated that certain impediments to subdivision development of the property, including zoning, water and sewer hookups and inadequate soil percolation, acted as a limitation to the value of the property. The alternatives discussed at the May meeting included continuation of the current use of Belmont, and the sale of the property to a like organization or a large profit-making corporation as a possible use as a training or research center. Factors to be considered in a decision of whether to sell the property include: (1) The annual operating losses of the Conference Center (in excess of $50,000 a year) as well as lost investment income on the value of the property; (2) The benefits to the Institution of prestige and good