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Diocese says price fair on 71 acres
Source:
Cranberry Eagle
Written by:
Jared Stonesifer
Published:
February 10, 2010
CRANBERRY TWP — The man who sold 71 acres to the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh for a new high school said he didn't make a large profit from the deal, and he said money was never the motive in the deal.
Fred W. Hespenheide sold 31 acres on the north side of Route 228 to the diocese on Dec. 29 for $4.5 million after buying that same property for $1.2 million earlier in December from Frank Mandl of 980 Route 228, Mars.
Hespenheide also recently sold 40 acres to the diocese in the same vicinity near Cranberry Township's border with Seven Fields after exercising options on two plots of land.
Hespenheide said the total value of the 71 acres is about $10 million, but he sold it to the diocese for less than $8 million. He said the $2 million discount is intended to help with the costs for the proposed high school.
Of the $8 million, he said, he donated $2 million to St. Kilian Elementary School, which is across Route 228 from the land just bought by the diocese. The remaining $6 million, he said, was depleted by other land costs and expenses, including development fees.
"The whole deal is intended to benefit the high school and St. Kilian's," he said. "After I covered the land costs, development expenses and the pledge to the parish, there was no inflation, nothing left."
Hespenheide said he wished the process was "low-key," and he never thought he'd have to explain himself in public.
Father Kris Stubna, secretary of education for the diocese, confirmed the sale price was about $8 million for the 71 acres, and said Hespenheide always has been fair and honest in dealing with every aspect of the project.
"We did an independent appraisal of that land and we feel we paid a very reasonable price for the property," Stubna said. "Mr. Hespenheide has been part of the conversation around this project for a while, and he's been very generous to the diocese in working with us during the land-acquisition process."
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