An abandoned school sits on prime real estate in the middle of Greensboro. A potential buyer practically begs Guilford County Schools to sell the property, and in turn the school system could use the revenue to help offset state and local budget cuts.
It’s a no-brainer, right? Not so fast.
For years, the Guilford County Board of Education has been trying to figure out what to do with Braxton Craven Elementary School, which has sat empty since 2004 when the board reassumed control from a local nonprofit that had leased the building. The school sits on prime real estate in Greensboro’s Lindley Park neighborhood, making it a likely candidate for infill development in line with the city’s smart growth policies.
In addition, Guilford Child Development — the nonprofit that occupied the school for 17 years — has pursued the school property aggressively to house its early childhood education program. Yet government rules may prevent the school system from selling the property to GCD, even it if wants to. The school system can’t offer the parcel for sale directly to any party — it first must declare the land and school building “surplus property” and turn them over to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. And even though commissioners supported a sale to GCD at a June meeting, they would have to solicit open bids for the property, which by law would go to the highest bidder.
GCD might not offer as much as a commercial developer. The nonprofit offered $860,000 for the property, but system property consultant Joe Hill estimated the property to be worth $2.8 million — $1.4 million for the building and $1.4 million for the land.
Another issue is whether the school system might prefer to hold the property as an asset for possible future use. The board frequently airs concerns about expanding enrollment and the need for new schools, not to mention the increasing cost of land in Guilford County. To own land in the middle of the city is a true asset, noted system chief operations officer Leo Bobadilla.
“This may very well be a site that you would want to utilize. Having such an asset provides you with that flexibility when you get the funding,” Bobadilla said. Board member Sandra Alexander said selling the property to GCD would provide “a golden opportunity to intervene in the lives of children who need it very much, and we’re turning our back on it once again. I see this as an issue that is a moral imperative.”
The school board’s attorney cautioned that “there is absolutely no assurance that at the end of the outside bid process, the highest bidder will be someone who will use it to do anything that you believe to be a high and moral purpose.”
Nonetheless, Alexander offered a motion to sell the property to GCD for $860,000. Fellow board member Kris Cooke then made a substitute motion to lease the property to GCD, which failed by a 6-5 vote. The board may at some point authorize a sale to GCD, even though another bidder may offer more for the property.
Board member Paul Daniels said he failed to see the logic behind letting the dilapidated property remain unused in the face of the system’s budget problems. “(W)e just spent a whole bunch of time … talking about how we don’t have any money for maintenance, and we’re holding onto a piece of property that’s deteriorating every single day with the thought that some day we’ll have the money to fix it up,” Daniels said.
Sam A. Hieb is a contributor to Carolina Journal.