One MSU fraternity house has been sold and another is up for grabs.
The MSU chapters of Delta Upsilon and Beta Theta Pi became inactive during the past year, and the chapter houses went vacant as a result. The fraternities' alumni boards looked to the real estate market in the absence of MSU members to occupy the homes.
Off the market
The former home of Delta Upsilon fraternity, 427 M.A.C. Ave., could shelter another men's greek community as soon as May.
Joe Goodsir, president of Community Resource Management Co., purchased the home for $575,000 in January. Since then, Goodsir said he's renovated the house to prepare the property for its new tenants: Lambda Phi Episilon fraternity.
The renovations include new carpeting, bathrooms and a kitchen, as well as construction to keep the house up to fire and building codes, Goodsir said.
Lambda Phi Epsilon was the first to respond to a notice that the house was available, and the deal was finalized last week, Goodsir said.
The house has been vacant since May when the MSU chapter of Delta Upsilon lost the student interest necessary to maintain the group.
"It's a sad thing," said Jim Pattee, president of the MSU Delta Upsilon Corp., which owned the home. "We've been at Michigan State for a pretty long time."
On the market
The Beta Theta Pi house, 1148 E. Grand River Ave., has received several offers from potential buyers and possible tenants in the two months since the property was vacated, said James Rasor, president of Beta Tau Alumni Corp., which owns the home.
The property has been empty since it was deemed unlivable by the city Dec. 15.
"Some men on our board would like to see the house leased, some men would like to see the house sold, so it's nice to have options," he said. "We've got good, solid offers to purchase it."
He added that there is some interest from other MSU greek organizations, but couldn't comment on specifics because of pending offers.
Although it is vacant, an alarm system continually monitors the home, he said.
The national affiliate severed ties with the MSU chapter of Beta Theta Pi in October.
Residents continued to live in the house of the disbanded fraternity until the property was declared uninhabitable because of numerous health and safety hazards. No one was to enter or live in the home until the violations were fixed.
As of Thursday, the house remains uninhabitable, and there aren't any scheduled inspections to review the code violations, said Ann Ezop, an East Lansing housing inspector. When Ezop inspected the home in December, she found garbage throughout the home, backed-up plumbing and sledgehammer marks battered into the walls.
Rasor said the alumni have "stabilized the situation."
"If we sell it, we're obviously not going to make the repairs — the new owner will do that," he said.
