COLLEGE PARK, MD—A little over a month after announcing details on its ambitious Greater College Park campus expansion initiative, the University of Maryland reports that almost an acre of land has been acquired from the Gamma Chi chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. The former fraternity house property will be redeveloped into housing for university faculty and staff.

The University of Maryland College Park Foundation purchased the .808-parcel of land at 4600 Norwich Rd., which is located at the corner of Norwich Road and Princeton Avenue in College Park in connection with its Greater College Park project. No financial terms of the transaction were released.

"The purchase of this land is a perfect next step in creating a Greater College Park for our community," says Carlo Colella, UMD's vice president for administration and finance. "Located just behind Fraternity Row and adjacent to several on- and off-campus housing units, the land is a natural extension of the University of Maryland campus."

"We looked at a wide range of potential buyers and were pleased to connect the seller with the University of Maryland," says

Colliers International Baltimore vice president Colin Penoyar brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller, the Sigma Chi Fraternity at the University of Maryland.

Greater College Park is part of the university's goal of becoming a premier college town. It includes  academic spaces, a vibrant downtown community and a public-private research hub. The initiative is the result of collaborative partnerships with Prince George's County, the City of College Park, the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, the College Park City-University Partnership, UMD alumni and local developers.

The Greater College Park plan consists of three inter-related components: academic spaces including A. James Clark Hall, the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Innovation, the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center and the new Cole Field House; a vibrant downtown community that will provide amenities such as The Hotel at the University of Maryland and a public-private research hub that will bring together private businesses and the university's academic community in the research park and innovation district.