Sale price for University Avenue sorority house just over $1.1 million
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MORGANTOWN - According to a real estate purchase agreement between the West Virginia University Board of Governors and Pi Beta Phi Home Association Inc., WVU's purchase price of the former sorority house at 1493 University Ave. was $1,195,000.
According to April 2025 reporting by Samantha Smith with The Daily Athenaeum, Pi Beta Phi Fraternity Housing Corporation opted to sell the property and transition the WVU chapter of the sorority to an "unhoused chapter" due to operational costs associated with the 96-year-old house.
The property had been listed for sale for about a year when Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network made what appeared to be a successful offer with intentions of turning the 11,492-square-foot structure into a recovery housing facility.
Once Abundant Life's intentions became known, both WVU and the neighboring St. John University Parish made purchase offers.
Representatives from both also spoke in opposition to Abundant Life's plans during a Morgantown Board of Zoning Appeals hearing in July.
The recovery housing nonprofit needed city approval of "halfway house" conditional use in order to utilize the property.
Both WVU and the church said they fully support the recovery mission, just not in that location.
"As we have shared previously with city leaders, perceptions of safety directly influence student success, enrollment decisions, employee recruitment, and the overall vitality of Morgantown and its downtown corridor. Locating a 'Half-Way House' in this location - within WVU's campus footprint - risks undermining the collective community safety efforts the University, City and County has constructively engaged in over the past two years," WVU President Michael Benson wrote in a letter to members of the Morgantown BZA.
The BZA ultimately denied the Abundant Life request. In August, the nonprofit resubmitted its request to city administration seeking “reasonable accommodation" under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal Fair Housing Act and the West Virginia Fair Housing Act. That request was also denied, at which point Abundant Life's contract on the property fell through.
WVU closed on the purchase Oct. 5.
The university has not indicated what its plans are for the site.
The Dominion Post obtained a copy of the purchase agreement from the university in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
A representative of Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network said the nonprofit’s offer was in line with the university’s purchase price.