Value of old Wheaton school questioned
It's always been assumed the eventual sale of the old Hubble Middle School in downtown Wheaton would help pay the cost of building its $50 million replacement in Warrenville.
But some Wheaton City Council members now are publicly questioning whether the old Hubble has any monetary value and are speculating about whether officials might need to give the land away to usher in retail and commercial development.
Councilman John Prendiville said he believes the 22-acre parcel at Naperville and Roosevelt roads is worth “less than nothing” the way it is now.
“The property, if it was a clean sheet of grass, would be worth, maybe, $2 million,” he said. “And that might be even a little bit optimistic.”
Prendiville's comment came during a Monday night council discussion about the property, where he made a renewed pitch for the site to become a park district facility.
“I think a facility like this combined with the open space next door is an amenity that other communities can't offer,” he said.
And while some say they would like the downtown area to get a grocery store, Councilman Howard Levine said he doubts whether that could happen at the old Hubble site.
“Grocers have a very low margin,” Levine said. “They wouldn't be able to pay a lot for the property. In fact, they may just need the property donated to them to make these projects work.”
If a developer must pay a lot for the property, Levine predicts the city's going to end up with drugstores, gas stations and banks on the site. “Things like that can afford to pay more,” he said.
A steering committee has recommended the city council review two options for the property, which is owned by Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200.
The first option is Prendiville's “recreation” proposal. The second is to encourage a developer to build a mixture of uses on the parcel.
In response to Prendiville's comment, steering committee member Rosemary Swanson, who also serves on the District 200 school board, said she believes the land is valuable and should be sold and put on the tax rolls.
“Money is starting to move out there,” she said, “and the school district, I think, would not like to walk past any proposal that would come our way.”
On Tuesday, school board President Andy Johnson said all property has value and the old Hubble site will be sold.
“We will not give it away,” he wrote in an e-mail.
According to the most recent appraisal of the Hubble site in 2007, the land has an estimated value of $21.7 million.
That figure is significantly higher than the estimates the district received for the site in 2001 and 2002. One earlier appraisal valued the land at $4.8 million. The other appraised it near $10 million.
The $10 million appraisal didn't factor in the existing school building as a negative factor. City officials acknowledge it could cost millions to abate the asbestos in the building and then raze it.
On Monday, Prendiville said Costco, which is no longer interested in acquiring the property, estimated it would have had to spend about $6 million to prepare the site for construction.
Still, Johnson said there are “interested parties out there,” including three developers who recently approached district and city officials.
“Things are changing in the economy across the country” he said, “and, with the city's support, I believe the Hubble property will be moved from a liability to an asset sooner rather than later.”