D26 to try again to sell Maplewood School

The Cary Elementary District 26 school board is preparing to rebid the sale of the Maplewood School in downtown Cary, this time offering developers greater flexibility on what the property can be used for in the future and setting a minimum price.

Board members say after receiving feedback from potential developers after the first attempt yielded just one bid, changes to the bid structure were needed.

“We heard that the process was too restrictive and didn’t offer flexibility on potential uses,” board member Jason Larry said. “It was not attractive to developers that wanted to redevelop the site.”

For example, Larry said, the bid did not include a number of contingencies, such as the ability to rezone the property. Developers were not apt to commit to the purchase of the property without the certainty that rezoning requests would be approved by the Village of Cary, Larry said.

The school board in December rejected a single bid from the Cary Park District for the property at 422 W. Krenz Ave. The park district offered $510,000 for the 15-acre property.

Board President Christopher Spoerle said there were two issues with the offer. First, it was too low, and the sale of the school to the park district would have removed the property from the tax rolls. That would have taken revenue away from taxing bodies such as the school district and park district.

Larry said the school district is in discussions over the minimum price it would accept for the property. About two years ago, the property was valued between $1.8 million and $3 million.

“That range is due to the large range of uses for the site, which is 15 acres downtown near a train line,” Larry said. “A developer could build whatever they wanted there.”