Liberty University aims to expand in shopping center

Liberty University aims to expand in shopping center.
LYNCHBURG -- An Arizona real estate development firm has donated an $11.7 million, 42-acre shopping center to Liberty University, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. Liberty will take on the shopping center and all of its outparcels -- a movie theater, a McDonald"s restaurant and a 73,000-square-foot former department store -- to relocate offices and expand its campus. Less than half of the shopping center, called The Plaza, is occupied. The gift from Sandor Development Co. in Scottsdale, Ariz., is expected to be completed late this month, Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said Friday in a statement. It completes a deal negotiated by the elder Falwell before his death in May. He envisioned the site housing offices for the distance learning program, freeing space for classrooms, Falwell said.