WEBSTER GROVES — Webster University said Friday that it found a buyer for a house it bought for its former leader.
The four-bedroom, 3,400-square-foot home sold for $1.2 million, according to a release. The buyer was not disclosed, and St. Louis County records had not yet been updated with the sale as of Friday morning.
A for the home boasts the property’s “exquisite millwork, leaded glass accents, and beautiful hardwood floors (that) set the stage for a warm and inviting atmosphere.†The property was “thoughtfully renovated to align with modern lifestyles,†according to the listing.
Stroble
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The home, at 102 Mason Avenue, is located a quarter-mile from campus. The university bought the home in 2012 for $935,000 for then-President Beth Stroble, who later became chancellor.
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Stroble resigned at the end of 2023 after overseeing years of falling enrollment and financial trouble — the private university experienced a 50% drop in enrollment and a loss of $128 million over the past decade. Students had protested and the faculty issued a vote of no confidence against Stroble and President Julian Schuster amid growing criticism of their management of the university.
The university’s new chancellor, Tim Keane, turned down the offer to live in the home and directed that the university sell it.
“The money from this sale will be returned to the university and used to support Webster’s mission of delivering the highest quality education to our students,†Keane said in a statement.
The university said it began planning the sale since last summer, when Keane was appointed.
An audit released earlier this year said Webster is on track to finish the current fiscal year with positive flow for the first time in 2016 if it continued to cut costs. At the time of the audit, Webster said it had sold off over $30 million in long-term investments, transitioned military campuses to online instruction and underwent a hiring freeze.
Last year, a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge allowed Webster to access over $30 million in restricted donations to help the college bolster its finances.
Monica Obradovic of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
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