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Aurora land sale means 'good news,' $7 million for Dist. 204

"Good news" for Indian Prairie Unit District 204: 25 acres the district no longer needs is turning into $7 million.

The district is selling the land at the southwest corner of Route 59 and 75th Street to M/I Homes for $900,000 more than the asking price officials set in December.

School board President Lori Price called the sale "good news" as the board approved it last week. The deal will bring in nearly $600,000 more than previous school board members spent in 2005 to buy the site from two heiresses to the Brach candy fortune.

The board announced its intent to sell the land last month, saying it was no longer needed for future school construction.

Officials received two bids for the Aurora property and chose the offer from Ohio-based M/I Homes, which was $500,000 more than Pulte Homes' $6.5 million proposal.

M/I plans to build a subdivision of multifamily housing on the site, district attorney Ares Dalianis said. The district has not yet decided which schools will be assigned to students who eventually will live in the subdivision, spokeswoman Janet Buglio said.

When District 204 bought the 25 acres, the first plan was to build a middle school there. Later plans called for the district's third high school, Metea Valley, to be constructed there; but that would have required the district to buy an adjacent 55 acres to amass a site large enough.

Plans to build a high school at Route 59 and 75th fell through in September 2007, when legal proceedings the district was using to try to buy the extra acres determined the land would have cost $17 million more than anticipated.

Instead, officials bought 84 acres on Eola Road just south of Diehl Road in Aurora from St. John AME Church and built Metea there.

The district will receive payment for the land in two separate closings, with M/I paying $3.5 million each time. Buglio said the closings have not yet been scheduled.

The district also has yet to talk with school board members about what the $7 million sale price will be used for. Board President Price did not return a message seeking comment.

Dist. 204 accepting bids for 25 acres at Route 59 and 75th St.

  A multifamily housing subdivision is likely to be built on this 25-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Route 59 and 75th Street in Aurora, which M/I Homes is buying from Indian Prairie Unit District 204 for $7 million. The district bought the land for $6.4 million in 2005, but did not end up building a school there. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
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