It comes as the university develops its strategic plan to "reduce the university’s space, year on year".
Chief operating officer Stephen Willis said that as part of this, some vacated buildings could be sold or leased, generating income and cutting university occupancy costs such as maintenance, power, cleaning and insurance.
Recent sales have included 52 St Leonards Dr, Dunedin (residential house, $703,000, in September), 130 Ashworth St, Alexandra (residential house — homes.co.nz reported the sale price as $485,000) and 270 Factory Rd, Mosgiel (historic house and former research facility, $1.15 million, in December 2024).
The university’s strategic plan, Pae Tata, had previously flagged this aspiration upon its release last year, Mr Willis said.
"Our large footprint is one of our strengths. However, our space utilisation is not supporting us to get the most out of these spaces, with poor space utilisation in some areas," the plan said.
"It is critical that we maximise space efficiency to help manage the high cost of our building portfolio, costs related to deferred maintenance and seismic proofing, and a high proportion of academic and research activity in capital-intensive areas that require specialised equipment and facilities."
Meanwhile, the property team is looking for new ideas.
Mr Willis said since the university’s senior property manager role became vacant earlier this year, a consultant or consultant team was being sought to provide this service via an outsourced model.
"The consultant will support the existing in-house property management team.
"The role is expected to be about five to 10 hours per week, making it difficult to hire someone into the role.
"The consultancy approach also enables us to access specialist skills of multiple consultants within a single team so that we have the best person providing advice we need for the range of issues that can arise."
