Selling the Number Six School, again

According to Lawrence School District sources, the two remaining bidders for the vacant Number Six School are the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach and a yeshiva in Queens.

The Board of Education declined to confirm the identities of the bidders after whittling the number from four to two. A final decision could be made at its next meeting.

Approval of the bid is subject to public referendum. State law requires public approval of the sale of a school. The school was closed in March 2009, with decreasing enrollment the primary culprit.

“We have gotten it down to two bidders,” school board Trustee Uri Kaufman said. “We are leaning in the direction of one of them, but we sent the [district] lawyer back to both bidders one last time for clarification of their respective bids. Once he reports back to us — at our next meeting in January — we will be in a position, we hope, to make a final decision.”

Board President David Sussman said that both proposed purchase prices are in the ballpark of the $12.5 million the district would have received from Simone Healthcare Development.

Sussman said that the board is seeking to get the highest price it can for the Number Six property. “Leaving a building and land vacant is never good business, and it’s not helping the public by not maximizing resources,” he said.

Last year, the district reached an agreement with Bronx-based Simone to sell the approximately 6.67-acre site, including the 80,170-square-foot building, for $12.5 million. Simone planned to lease the property to Mt. Sinai Hospital for a 60-doctor, 30-specialty medical facility. But the proposal was voted down by a nearly 2-to-1 margin of district residents on March 20.

Community members who opposed the sale to Simone were concerned about adding traffic to an already congested area and the loss of open space, given Simone’s plan to pave over the existing ball fields and other recreational space, except for the playground, to create 450 parking spaces.