August 25, 2003

Mercer Purchases Baptist Center from GBC

ATLANTA ­- Mercer University purchased the Georgia Baptist Convention headquarters adjacent to the university¹s Atlanta campus Aug. 21. The purchase price for the 25 acres and five-story building was $12 million.

As part of the agreement, GBC staff will remain in the building for up to three years while the Convention¹s new facility is completed in Gwinnett County. University officials plan to conduct a study on future usage of the facility.

"The University¹s Board of Trustees determined the property was an important purchase to maintain the integrity of Mercer¹s Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus," said Mercer University President R. Kirby Godsey, according to a joint statement from GBC and Mercer spokespersons.

Mercer¹s 300-acre Cecil B. Day Campus in Atlanta houses six of the University¹s 10 schools and colleges: the Southern School of Pharmacy, Stetson School of Business, Tift College of Education, McAfee School of Theology, Georgia Baptist College of Nursing and the College of Continuing and Professional Studies.  Some 2,200 of Mercer¹s 7,300 student enrollment attend classes on the campus, where the primary academic focus is graduate and professional studies.

According to the press release, GBC Executive Director J. Robert White said the sale "provides resources to assist the convention in securing the property and facilities for our future site at Sugarloaf Parkway and Satellite Boulevard." The project is set to begin in early 2004.  

The 25 acres on which the Baptist Center currently stands were originally part of the Atlanta Baptist College campus, and were sold to the Convention prior to the college¹s merger with Mercer in the 1970s. The university now owns all of the property inside a circle formed by Mercer University Drive and Flowers Road South.