January 11, 2025
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Temple University made a bid to purchase Terra Hall, the largest building of the closed University of the Arts on South Broad Street. Temple intends to use it as the future home of its Center City campus.
Temple University is bidding to acquire Terra Hall, the main academic building of the now-closed University of the Arts (UArts), with plans to make it the new home of its Center City campus.
University president John Fry confirmed the bid in a message to the Temple community on Friday, saying that it has been approved and is awaiting court approval. The university made a bid of $18 million, the Temple News reports.
Fry promised further updates in the "weeks to come" and said that "the acquisition of Terra Hall continues Temple’s longstanding tradition of investing in a Center City campus and provides us with a strong and permanent presence in the heart of downtown Philadelphia."
Temple University Center City (TUCC) has been located at 1515 Market St. since 2001. The school offers several graduate and undergraduate degrees, and the 130,000-square-foot building has 53 classrooms, a student technology center and several other spaces.
Temple's lease for its current Center City building expires June 30, 2027. If the university acquires Terra Hall and turns it into the new TUCC building, it will be the first time Temple owns its own Center City campus instead of leasing a property.
The 274,000-square-foot Terra Hall is located at 201-211 S. Broad St. and was the largest academic building of UArts. The art university abruptly closed in June and filed for bankruptcy in September, leaving its properties and holdings for sale.
Temple was one of several Philadelphia schools offering support to displaced UArts students. The university explored options to acquire UArts but decided against moving forward in September.
