Brooks Institute announced May 20 that at the end of June it will relocate its Montecito program, and the nine staff and operations workers at that campus, to its other three locations in Santa Barbara.

The Montecito campus, a 79-year-old former residence, will be sold, Brooks officials said. According to regional real estate agent and attorney John Thyne, the 7.5 acres that Brooks owns on Alston Road in Montecito could be worth an estimated $9.5 million conservatively, based on land value alone without taking any of the Brooks facilities into consideration. “The decision to sell the Montecito facility was a difficult but necessary decision,” said Roger C. Andersen, president of Brooks Institute. “This beautiful old building is an icon in the history of the college, but it has never been very functional as a teaching facility.” Andersen said two detailed facility analyses conducted at the Montecito campus in the past six months reflect that it is facing very expensive upkeep and basic infrastructure problems. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of the Montecito facility will be reinvested in the school’s future through student scholarship and faculty development endowment funds.