YPSILANTI, MI - Eastern Michigan University is considering the purchase of an 11-acre property adjacent to the northeast end of campus.

The university's Board of Regents approved the authorization to purchase the property Thursday, Oct. 25, subject to approval of final terms by the board's executive committee.

The property, which consists of parcels at 800-804 Lowell Street, 298 Jarvis St. and 725 N. Huron St., is owned by Urban Campus Communities, LLC.

The property includes warehouse space for the Michigan Firehouse Museum and is located across the street from EMU's Ann Street parking lot.

EMU has obtained a letter of intent from Urban Campus Communities to sell the property for $2.65 million. The letter of intent gives EMU a diligence period through May 15, 2019 to determine whether it will purchase some or all of the property.

"It's a large parcel with an awful lot of valuable roadside frontage, so there's a lot of possibilities and we have a team that's involved right now in sorting through all of that," EMU Chief Financial Officer Michael Valdes said.

Beyond the diligence period, Valdes said EMU hasn't yet identified any early potential uses for the property.

Valdes did indicate the university is not interested in using the warehouse space on the property.

"If we have interest, it is for developing something else on that space. We don't really have those kind of large, mass storage needs," Valdes said.

"Anytime there's real estate, you need to investigate title and environmental (issues) and we'll be sorting through our anticipated usages and coming up with a preferred plan for that space between now and May 15," he added.

Valdes said EMU has similarly acquired property in recent years when it purchased the Holy Trinity Chapel, located at 511 W. Forest Ave. for $940,000 from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing in 2015. The chapel now houses EMU's Honors College.

"We felt that was a real good investment for the university," he said. "We went through with that purchase, and now it's a spectacular home for our honors college and is really well suited for meeting the needs of that college."