Rice University donated the land for NASA’s Johnson Space Center. However, there were strings attached. According to Rocket Men,
If NASA gives up manned space flight, however, under the terms of its lease , it will have to relinquish Houston’s Johnson Spacecraft [sic] Center back to Rice University.
I imagine NASA will always at least talk about putting people in space so they can hold on to their land.
Update: Here’s a newspaper clipping about the deal. I don’t know where it’s from or whether it’s accurate.
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As a Rice alum, I remember hearing various rumors about Rice’s land deal with NASA. One was that the buildings at NASA were laid out like a college campus so that they could be converted to some sort of college should the land revert back to Rice.
Scott: If the land did revert to Rice, would that make it a satellite campus?
(I wish I could say I came up with that pun, but I heard someone else say it.)