The Vancouver School of Theology announced in January it is selling its iconic Iona Building to the University of British Columbia for $28 million.
VST continues to own nearby Somerville House and the Chapel of the Epiphany.
Rev. Dr. Richard Topping, principal of VST, said the school “invested a significant amount of money in the building” over the years and wanted to free up some of that investment to be used for ministry and education.
A space assessment that was done by the theological school showed it was using only about 27,000 square feet of the more than 99,000-square foot Iona Building, he said. VST approached UBC in 2012 to discuss the possibility of selling it.
Topping said VST is considering a few plans to create a new space for the school. All of them call for a smaller, purpose-built space that will be open and easily adapted to different uses.
“We’re in a position to create a space to support the kind of course work we’re doing,” he said.
VST has more part-time students than it did in the past and it is offering more courses electronically, he noted.
Surplus funds from the sale will go into a foundation to help support the ongoing operations of the college.
The Iona Building belongs to VST and sits on land it leased from UBC for 999 years in 1927. The stone-faced building will become home to the university’s school of economics.
UBC plans to take possession in July and hopes to begin using it in September 2015
