ROCK SPRINGS – Western Wyoming Community College is offloading one of its residence halls for $3 million in a deal that will ultimately see the college lose money from the building’s 2010 purchase.

The college’s board of trustees approved the sale of Aspen Mountain Hall last week to an unnamed buyer. Overall, the college will lose about $2 million on the deal, as it bought the property in 2010 for $4.8 million. Prior to being used as a residence hall, the building was the Wingate Inn. The purchaser intends to convert the building to its original use as a hotel.

The desire to sell the residence hall isn’t new. The building is currently unoccupied and discussions about offloading it date back to 2019. The college website’s housing options pages don’t mention Aspen Mountain Hall as an available accommodation. The building was purchased to meet demand for affordable student housing, which was difficult to find because of the economic boom southwestern Wyoming experienced during the mid and late 2000s.

Purchasing a vacant hotel wasn’t the college’s first option to expand student housing. The college initially attempted to seek voter approval for a bond issue to cover the construction costs of two new residence hall buildings, but voters ultimately rejected the ballot initiative. Western was eventually able to finance the construction of one new residence hall and the conversion of the Wingate Inn to Aspen Mountain Hall.

Trustee Neil Kourbelas questioned the $3 million offer the college was offered for the property, highlighting the loss in public money the college would see if approved. He also questioned the logic behind selling the building when the area will see a huge influx of workers to build new trona facilities and Kemmerer’s planned Natrium nuclear reactor.

“We’re talking about a mini boom,” he told the other trustees last week.

Brian Marincic, the realtor representing the college in the sale, said the market for hotels is tough and views the $3 million as a fair offer. He said the commercial and residential markets are different and believes the college overpaid when it initially purchased the building. Marincic also said the buyer isn’t seeking an appraisal with the cash offer that was made.

“I trust the valuation we came up with,” he said.

The sale was approved by the board, with Kourbelas and Board Treasurer Stephen P. Allen voting against it.