DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — NCR Corp.'s unusual $5 million gift to the University of Dayton gives UD "total freedom" to develop a 50-acre parcel of land for the best interest of the university and region, said UD President Daniel J. Curran.

UD announced on Tuesday, Dec. 30, that NCR will donate the equivalent of a $5 million gift by relinquishing all rights to participate in the commercial development in the property between Brown Street and the Great Miami River that UD purchased in 2005 from NCR. The gift allows UD to "make the right decisions for the long-term usage of the property," Curran said.

Plans for an expanded UD campus under a master plan unveiled in February include a performing arts center on Brown Street, as well as mixed-use development.

UD's agreement with NCR required 30 percent of the parcel to be developed for commercial purposes. The university now has the flexibility to develop it for academic and mixed use, Curran said.

"We're looking for partners in research and science that will bring jobs into the area," Curran said. "So it will be a very different discussion than it would have been a year ago with partners."

Since purchasing the property, UD has removed one building and converted a 447,000-square-foot former manufacturing facility into a mixture of uses, including new research labs, classrooms and an entire floor housing the Dayton Early College Academy, a nationally celebrated charter high school.

The waterfront acreage has been cleaned up to residential standards. Cleanup work will begin in 2009 on another 26.5 acres between Brown and Main streets. "Clearly, it will be very usable land and prime development area in the region," Curran said.

Projects such as the arts center will be based on fundraising, which is a challenge in the current economy, Curran said. "But if we were looking at a research project, we believe we could bring together a number of partners that would work together to get the project done."

UD's next steps will include putting out a request for information for developers, and discussing projects in January at its board of trustees meeting. Curran did not anticipate announcing any plans before the end of the academic year.

UD is Ohio's largest private university, with a total enrollment of about 10,000 and sponsored research totalling $80 million annually.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2419 or dlarsen@DaytonDailyNews.com.