Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Rob O’Dea’s name.

The real estate developer who closed on Marpa House reportedly visited residents and offered to help them try to buy the house so it would remain a cohousing community.

The Community of Marpa House, a group that tried to save the historic property, in a statement said it “felt misled by the actions of John Kirkland.”

Kirkland, along with other developers, closed on the property Wednesday, buying it for $4.9 million. The Community of Marpa House group made an offer for $4.2 million after initially offering $3 million.

Kirkland said he was “taken aback” by the residents’ statements. In an emailed statement, he said he contacted the Shambhala Interim Board’s co-chair when he learned of the “magnitude” of Shambhala’s financial issues.

Shambhala, the Buddhist organization founded in Boulder that owns the house, announced months ago it was going to sell the property to pay off its debts as it navigates a “difficult period” stemming from accusations of sexual misconduct involving former members.

The organization said it planned to sell the house to the developers, who put in a higher initial offer. The residents will be able to stay through Nov. 9, with free rent for the last 90 days, which Kirkland proactively offered to accommodate residents, said Rob O’Dea, spokesman for the project.

Marpa House was founded in 1973 and houses about 40 people in the University Hill neighborhood. Several neighbors have said the residents of Marpa House are great people to live near, and they don’t want the property redeveloped into student housing.

“As a long-time Boulder resident, I fully understand and appreciate the importance of this property to its immediate neighbors, the University community and to Boulder at large. It has been a great honor to work with the board of Shambhala to craft this purchase in a manner that addresses their immediate needs,” Kirkland said in an emailed statement. “I look forward to meeting with neighbors in the coming months as we begin to shape our plans to invest significantly in the property and return it to a condition more reflective of the beautiful surrounding homes and original character as it was built in the 1920s.”

The Interim Board’s co-chairman, John Cobb, said the organization is sad to let go of the property, but that it takes “comfort in Mr. Kirkland’s appreciation and respect for this property and trust that he will work to ensure that it will continue to add value to the Boulder community.”

Kirkland previously was involved with a development of student apartments called Oak House. Construction on those apartments were not finished for fall 2014 move-in, according to previous Daily Camera reporting, so several University of Colorado Boulder students were left scrambling to find a place to live.

The developers who bought Marpa House submitted a preapplication review to the city of Boulder in July through Tom Jarmon, vice president of the Eric Smith Associates, P.C. architecture firm. It proposes converting the property into 16 three-bedroom apartments resulting in 48 occupants.

Kirkland and four others visited Marpa House on June 14 after expressing interest in buying the property, according to Community of Marpa House’s statement.

Group members then realized that Kirkland was the same person who in April had visited and had dinner with them. Kirkland first contacted the group via its website, which offers a way to submit messages. The Daily Camera obtained a copy of the submission, which reads “I would be interested in providing financing for the Marpa House,” and is signed John Kirkland.

On April 23, Kirkland met with two members of the Community of Marpa House (COMH), who both have confirmed to the Daily Camera the interaction described in the statement, along with another resident who observed the interaction. He reportedly brought two bottles of wine and had dinner with the residents.

“During that dinner, members of COMH explained its mission to purchase the Marpa House from the current owner so that the property could continue to operate in the community as it is now,” the statement says. “Mr. Kirkland was given a tour of Marpa House, and stated several times that he wanted to help support our efforts to purchase Marpa House as a community. He also offered to look over some of our financial models and share his insights.”

The community members provided information to Kirkland that included communications with Shambhala’s Interim Board and the group’s proposal, including the offer price.

“COMH felt comfortable sharing this information based on Mr. Kirkland having said that he intended to help with COMH’s efforts to purchase the Marpa House,” the statement says.

Kirkland also left a voicemail for a member, which the Daily Camera obtained. In it, Kirkland says he hopes his meeting with them was “helpful” and explains that he would be taking measurements of the exterior of the house because he thought the appraisal information was not correct, so he wanted to verify it “for you guys.”

Kaleigh Isaacs, a member of the Community of Marpa House, came home to find Kirkland measuring the exterior of the building, she said.

“I asked to speak with him privately as something felt off and some residents were uncomfortable. When I asked him directly if he had any other interests in the property he said that he ‘was not interested in purchasing Marpa House for his own or others’ purposes’ and that he just wanted to help our community group with our efforts,” she said in an emailed statement.

Kirkland, however, said in his statement that he took part in the sale to help the organization.

“Together (with the Interim board), we quickly structured an all-cash sale, for a value greater than their property appraisal would support, and on the accelerated timeline necessary to allow Shambhala to cure their imminent financial crisis,” he wrote. “My understanding was, and has always been, that the residents of Marpa House were Shambhala members and adherents first and, as beneficiaries of Shambhala’s subsidized housing for 40-years, were completely aligned with Shambhala’s desire to avoid complete financial ruin. … After the efforts I’ve led over the past several months to help Shambhala close on this sale, I’m disappointed and quite frankly at a total loss for how to respond to their residents’ suggestion of impropriety.”