Everglades College pays $33M for Keiser’s Pembroke campus

Keiser University’s non-profit parent company expanded its South Florida real estate portfolio, buying the school’s Pembroke Pines campus for $32.9 million. 

Everglades College, owner of Fort Lauderdale-based Keiser University, acquired the two-story educational building at 1640 Southwest 145th Avenue, according to records and Vizzda. The buyer obtained a $24.7 million mortgage from TD Bank.

The deal breaks down to $4.3 million an acre for the 7.6-acre site. 

The seller, an affiliate of Fort Lauderdale-based Keenan Development Group, led by President Bill Keenan, paid $4.6 million for the land in 2010, records show. A year later, Keenan completed the 77,159-square-foot building.

Last month, Everglades College bought Keiser University’s West Palm Beach campus for $30.2 million. Keenan was also the seller of that two-building complex. Keiser previously leased the Pembroke Pines and West Palm Beach properties from Keenan. 

Keiser University was founded by Arthur Keiser, who serves as vice president of Everglades College, corporate records show. In 2011, Everglades College purchased his namesake university with a $321 million loan provided by Arthur Keiser, according to published reports. Everglades College also owns Boca Raton-based Everglades University. 

Everglades College has been consolidating Keiser University’s campuses. Last year, the non-profit company purchased a pair of office properties in Fort Lauderdale for a combined $57.6 million. One of the buildings is Keiser University’s main campus. 

Established in 1977, Keiser University is Florida’s largest private institution of higher learning, according to the school’s website. Keiser University has 21 campuses across Florida and 20,000 students. 

In Palm Beach County, Everglades College also owns six more properties. In 2015, the non-profit company paid $25 million for the former West Palm Beach campus of Michigan-based Northwood University, records show.

While Everglades College is on a buying binge, the University of Florida is pausing its plans to set up a 12-acre West Palm Beach campus for a graduate program focused on technology, innovation and finance, the Palm Beach Post reported. The university and West Palm Beach-based developer Jeff Greene, who committed 5 acres for the proposed campus, are at odds over naming rights.