Real estate company bids $4.9 million for the campus of a bankrupt West Virginia college

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal bankruptcy court in West Virginia has set a hearing for next month on the potential sale of a defunct private university’s campus.

A court-appointed trustee filed a motion Wednesday to sell the former Alderson Broaddus University’s land, furnishings, equipment and supplies in Philippi to DACK Investments LLC for $4.9 million.

If any competing bid is submitted in writing by Jan. 26, an auction will be held on Jan. 31 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Clarksburg. Otherwise, the court will conduct a Jan. 31 hearing to approve the sale to DACK, a real estate company in nearby Buckhannon.

WBOY-TV first reported on the impending sale.

Alderson Broaddus, which was founded in 1932, had been struggling financially for several years.

The small Baptist university filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August, a month after announcing that it planned to stop operating. The filing allowed the university to liquidate its assets. The university estimated it had between $1 million and $10 million in total assets, liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million and owed money to between 100 and 199 creditors.

Alderson’s trustees voted July 31 to develop a plan to disband after a board overseeing the state’s four-year colleges and universities revoked the school’s ability to award degrees effective Dec. 31. The university’s 625 students scrambled to enroll at other colleges.

In August, Alderson Broaddus took down its website, encouraged its employees to seek unemployment insurance benefits and announced that it voluntarily resigned its accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission.