New owner eyes charter, faith-based schools, film industry for former Mercyhurst North East campus

It's been renamed and soon it will be repurposed.

Ehrenfeld Cos., the new owner of the historic North East property that served as a two-year-college for Mercyhurst University for three decades and, before that, was the longtime home of St. Mary's Seminary, is now calling the 70-acre campus "Granite Ridge."

And several plans are taking shape behind the scenes to give it a new use.

Not only does the new owner plan to expand the residential rental offerings at Granite Ridge and offer an array of sports programming through a partnership with the Erie Sports Center, but other potential uses are also emerging for the property — anything from a charter school to film production, said Bill Unger, director of operations for Granite Ridge.

"There's a lot of interest in a variety of the spaces that we have," Unger said. "Everything from charter schools to other faith-based schools, different government programs. There's been a lot of interest. We're hoping that interest actually leads to something in the near future."

What the campus won't be, though, is an offshoot of the Geneva, Ohio, sports training facility S.P.I.R.E., which is also owned by Ehrenfeld Cos.

"If there's ever a way that we can piggyback, or there's some synergies across that (common ownership) we would explore that," Unger said, "but we are definitely two separate entities."

What's happening now?

The new owner is working with the Erie Sports Center to bring sports programs to the campus. It announced on March 7 it had named the Erie Sports Center the manager of its sports fields and facilities.

At Granite Ridge, the Erie Sports Center has lined up soccer, football and lacrosse camps, to name a few, for the summer.

And "through another channel" Granite Ridge will host a monthlong faith-based youth camp, Unger said. The camp, which will have a sports component to it, will run from the end of June through July.

Work continues to renovate the iconic chapel on the campus, too, so that it can be used for weddings. By order of the Roman Diocese of Erie, Mercyhurst was required to remove all religious artifacts from the chapel before closing on the sale.

The commercial kitchen on the campus, which Mercyhurst used for its culinary program, also has been activated and licensed for operation, Unger said.

There have also been several "non-sexy" capital improvements, said Unger.

"The roofs and the mechanicals, that ended up being a little more extensive than we thought," he said. "There was a need. Most of these mechanicals were at the end of their life."

Unger continues to meet with interested parties about other spaces.

A religiously-affiliated high school and charter schools have expressed interest in leasing portions of the property.

There have also been ongoing discussions about the property's potential for the film industry.

'You could do so much there'

Erika Berlin is the executive director of the Film Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania, which in 2013 established the Greater Erie Film Office. The office was formed "to attract productions to Erie County and best serve visiting film and television productions with support and resources."

While the North East property was still on the market, American High, a film production company based in Rochester, N.Y. that focuses on high school comedies, expressed interest in buying the campus. It reached out to the Greater Erie Film Office for assistance with obtaining Pennsylvania's Film Production Tax Credit.

But at that point, Mercyhurst and Ehrenfeld Cos. were putting together a purchase agreement. Talks continued between officials from Ehrenfeld Cos., American High and Berlin's office, among others.

"What that did was sparked our interest," Berlin said. "Here's this huge campus. It has such a diversity of backdrops. You have this deconsecrated church. You have the old part of the school that has a seminary look to it. And you have the new part of the campus. You have that student lounge that looks like it's '2001, A Space Odyssey' was shot there. And then you have the grounds which have sports fields, a gymnasium and you've got lodging. You could do so much there. In our conversations with (Unger), we said you could offer so much to a film production from start to finish."

Berlin wants to build a profile of the property that can be used by the Pennsylvania Film Office to market the state to the film industry. Granite Ridge is ideal in many respects, she said, because it can not only serve as a setting for films, but also house and feed crews, is in close proximity to Lake Erie, North East's downtown and other attractions.

Residential growth

Even before Mercyhurst University finalized its sale of the property to Ehrenfeld Cos., the new owner began managing a cluster of complexes on the property that make up 25 townhomes. Those units were fully occupied by the start of 2022.

More rental units are in the works.

Redemptorist's Hall, which has 14 three-bedroom units, is being renovated. Each unit will now have two bedrooms. The third bedroom in each unit is being converted to a kitchen.

The owners are also considering constructing 40 or more residential units — two-bedroom, 1,000-square-feet cottages — on the backside, or northwestern portion of the property along Sunset Drive and Pearl Street. Unger said building could start in 2023.

"We're excited about that and really trying to push that and hope that it's a 2023 project that will come to life very soon," Unger said.

Sports complex

Still in the plans is a 70,000-square-foot sports complex. Last year, the borough applied for a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant of $6.5 million to fund the construction, as well as renovations to an existing field house on the campus and an off-site natatorium within walking distance from the front entrance of Granite Ridge.

However, Gov. Tom Wolf did not fund the borough's request last year.

More:A sports complex for North East? Grant could help make $13M project come to life

North East Borough Manager Patrick Gehrlein said the borough is working with Ehrenfeld Cos. to submit a similar RACP request to the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development.

Gehrlein said the application will be "more targeted to what's happening on the ground now and what's obtainable today."

He said the company's plans for the property have evolved over the last year — "the goal posts keep moving because the economy keeps moving," he said — but that Ehrenfeld Cos. "believes in the project."

"They're looking for patient capital," he said. "The hard thing for this community and other communities is always waiting for that patient capital. They're looking for a long-term investment, though."

A piece of the portfolio

Ehrenfeld Cos., the Baltimore-based firm founded by entrepreneur Jonathan Ehrenfeld, has a portfolio that includes real estate investment, athlete development, waste management, environmental services and mechanical services considers Granite Ridge, S.P.I.R.E. and another sports complex, the Panther Performance Center in Hampstead, Maryland, as separate entities in its diverse and growing portfolio. Ehrenfeld Cos. also is a partner in a "full-service athlete management firm representing NFL players" known as Steinberg Sports & Entertainment.

It closed on the purchase of the North East property in late January, buying it from Mercyhurst University for $4.5 million.

More:Mercyhurst North East campus sold to Baltimore-based owner of S.P.I.R.E. Institute

On its website, Ehrenfeld Cos. says this of the Granite Ridge, referencing the limited liability company that was formed to carry out the real estate transaction:

"With responsible stewardship and genuine care, North East Campus, LLC., has begun to vision a modern upgrade and business strategy focused on short and long-term hospitality and sports rentals," the website says.

Developing 'synergies for S.P.I.R.E.'

In the press release that detailed the relationship with the Erie Sports Center, Ehrenfeld Cos., or eCos, said "The partnership with (Erie Sports Center) on the North East campus will allow eCos to further develop synergies for S.P.I.R.E. across all sports."

Unger, however, said that the campus won't become an extension of S.P.I.R.E.

"That sports piece will always be something that'll be related to our identity," he said. "But with the rest of the campus, you know, we're really open. Somebody could come in and say, 'Hey, we really love the campus. We want to move our corporate offices here and we'll take all of it.' We believe that the chapel will have its purpose as a wedding venue. We have that ability to cater events here. We're open if somebody was to come to us with something we're not shutting anything down right now."

Contact Matthew Rink at mrink@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNrink.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Former Mercyhurst North East campus: New owner, names it Granite Ridge