Chestnut Hill College buying Sugar Loaf

According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, Chestnut Hill College plans to buy Sugar Loaf and expand its campus and student body; Sugar Loaf is an estate across the street from their campus in the “far northwest” section of Philadelphia. The College’s plans for growth began in 2003 when it went co-ed. Since then, enrollment almost doubled to 625 full-time undergraduates from 312. The school is projecting 700 full-time undergraduates for next year and has a goal of growing to 1,500 undergrads by 2012. The school's plans for the estate include using the existing mansion for conference/classroom space and the small hotel’s 32 overnight rooms for student accommodations. It would also look to construct additional student housing. It already has plans for a new residence hall that would cost up to $12 million to build and house up to 200 students. That building is expected to open in 2008.