Number Six School sale remains open

John Tujia, senior director at the Plainview-based Greiner-Maltz Real Estate, the commercial brokers for the Lawrence School District’s Number Six School property, said though there are three proposals on the table for the building which has been closed for nearly three years, there has been no sale and proposals are still being accepted.

“I’d like to think we’re close,” Tujia said about the sale of the property. “I’ve only had one meeting with the school board and there is no deadline as far as someone submitting a proposal.” The school building is located at 523 Church Ave. in Woodmere off of Peninsula Boulevard near Branch Boulevard.

Greiner-Maltz Real Estate markets the property and solicits proposals from prospective buyers, Tujia said. His firm discusses the proposals with Lawrence’s Board of Education. The trustees then evaluate the proposals before seeking district resident approval through a public referendum. “We want to see what uses would best suite the area and which proposal would maximize the return for the school district,” Tujia said.

Lawrence Trustee Dr. David Sussman said the process of selling the Number Six School is similar to the sale of the Number One School property that closed in 2004. “It’s not much different,” he said. “And to my understanding no bidding has been closed and we’re still looking forward to the process.”

Rabbi Nahum Marcus, a five-year Lawrence school board trustee, said he thinks the sale of the Number Six School is being conducted inappropriately. “The board members have been dragging their feet with regards to when to sell the building,” he said. “To have the building sit there and collect dust is ridiculous.”