IPF names new Real Estate Operations director
January 12, 2023
MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities has named Marchan Darby as IPF’s new Real Estate Operations director to lead the university’s real estate efforts. This includes managing MSU's real estate leases, mineral leases, property easements, land sales and acquisitions, and performing due diligence on potential gifts of real property.
MSU's landholdings total more than 27,000 acres across the state.
MSU operates on the philosophy that if off-campus land is not being used for research, teaching or outreach, it should be sold and put back on the tax rolls. The income from the sale of excess land goes into a land and improvement fund which assists with purchasing additional land as needed.
Managing MSU's real estate portfolio is a multi-faceted job.
"We want to minimize MSU’s exposure to risks, allow us a stronger negotiating position, and properly utilize the resources at our disposal," Darby said. "We'll do that through building processes and efficiencies that manage our portfolio in a proactive way."
Darby has over 20 years of real estate experience, most recently as a Real Estate Division director for the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget’s (DTMB) Real Estate Division. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in management.
Darby will report to Dick Temple, assistant vice president for Real Estate and Capital Planning.
About the IPF Office of Real Estate and Capital Planning
Since its founding in 1855, MSU has operated from its main campus in East Lansing, which now comprises about 5,200 acres. But the university has grown far beyond its roots in East Lansing with significant properties and operations in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint.
In total, the university owns more than 26,000 acres in more than 20 counties, such as the 5,760-acre Dunbar Forest in Chippewa County and the 3,900-acre Kellogg Biological Station in Kalamazoo County. It also runs the Grand Rapids Innovation Park, a health care innovation hub that features multiple research buildings, and the MSU College of Human Medicine headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids. MSU has 564 buildings totaling 24.8 million square feet, most of that on the East Lansing campus.
To better focus the university’s approach to land acquisition and development, IPF formed the Office of Real Estate and Capital Planning, which is made up of these departments:
- Planning, Design and Construction, which plans and manages major capital construction projects.
- Real Estate Operations, formerly called the Land Management Office, which leads real estate and leasing operations, and property management for multiple off-campus locations.
- Campus Planning, which guides campus land use consistent with the university's campus plan.
- Capital Renewal, which oversees how IPF identifies and prioritizes infrastructure maintenance projects.