NGU announces purchase of building for graduate school and undergraduate online college

North Greenville University has purchased the former Ryan’s corporate office building in Greer.

The 31,000-square-foot-building will house the university’s T. Walter Brashier Graduate School and College of Adult Professional Studies. The sale of the building, located at 405 Lancaster Ave., to NGU was effective March 11.

The acquisition includes the office building, along with more than 10 acres of property, including a 1.4-acre parcel available for the school’s use for future development.

Officials say the facility will offer many additional opportunities for university growth and will house several programs that are currently operating in other locations. NGU’s T. Walter Brashier Graduate School, for example, currently uses space leased from Fairview Baptist Church in Greer, a partnership that began in 2006.

“This new facility is an ideal addition to the North Greenville main campus,” said Randall Pannell, NGU’s interim president. “The building is not only in close proximity to our current graduate school, but also provides precisely the kind of space we need to continue our current graduate degree and online offerings and to carry out a high-quality, Christ-centered program in physician assistant medicine, set to begin in January 2017. We are delighted to solidify our presence in Greer.”

In addition to the physician assistant program, NGU will continue its current graduate degree offerings in business, education, ministry and music education, and also its College of Adult Professional Studies programs at the new facility. The university’s CAPS recruitment team will also relocate to the Lancaster Avenue location from the Tim Brashier Center on Pleasantburg Drive in Greenville, as well as other support functions from the main campus in Tigerville.

“I’m very pleased to welcome North Greenville University to the city of Greer,” said mayor Rick Danner. “The university has long been a fine neighbor at its Tigerville campus, and its prestigious graduate school will be a tremendous addition to the city.”

University officials say the graduate school will begin transitioning to the new facility at the beginning of summer and will be fully occupied by the start of the fall 2016 semester. The school is making plans for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the fall.