Number Five School for sale in Lawrence, $12.5 million is the price

It’s a great location. We love it!”

Gila Kopolovitz, Shulamith second-grade teacher

For the third time in 16 years, the Lawrence School District is hoping to put a school building up for sale. The former Number Five School, in Cedarhurst — home to the Shulamith School for Girls since 2015 — will be the subject of a public referendum on Feb. 16.

The asking price for the nearly century-old building at 305 Central Ave. is $12.5 million. As of press time, Shulamith, a girls-only Jewish school, was the highest bidder, according to Lawrence Board of Education President Murray Forman, with an offer that equaled the asking price.

“The voters get the final say at the referendum,” Forman said. “If (the sale) is something that the voters are in favor of, it will get done.

“The district has enjoyed renting it,” he added. “The district is about to embark on a reconstruction of the high school using a combination of district funds and significant funding from FEMA.”

Lawrence High School, Forman explained, will undergo a $60 million to $80 million makeover, using $50 million to $60 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency project funding for damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, as well as the projected proceeds from the sale of the Number Five School. New sidewalks, a new heating and air-conditioning system and flood protection walls are planned.

After the school district adopted its version of the Princeton Plan and sent the Number Five students to other district buildings, Lawrence officials approved a lease agreement with Shulamith for payments that began at $500,000 per year and grew to $600,000 this school year.

Shulamith has an early-childhood school, a lower division, a middle school and a high school that is now housed in a building on Franklin Place in Woodmere, the former site of a New York Sports Club.

The Long Island City-based Greiner-Maltz Real Estate is marketing the Number Five School property for the district. The firm sold the former Number Six School to the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach for $8.5 million in 2014.

On the Lawrence District 15 Facebook group page, a few community members shared their opinions on the possible sale of the building to Shulamith.

“They have been a good neighbor and have been there for a while,” Celia Sporer posted. “So why not let them buy it.”

“Let the school be,” wrote Gila Kopolovitz, a second-grade general studies teacher in Shulamith’s elementary school. “It’s a great location. We love it!”

Some questioned how the price was determined, saying they believed the building is worth more. “I’d like to know how they came to that $12 million dollar price,” Elissa Jonas Sharin posted. “Seems like this land is worth more.”

Elisa Bachrow Hinken added that she believed the property is worth $25 million, based on its size and location.

The Number Five School would be the fourth school sold by the district in the past 43 years.

The Number Three School, in Cedarhurst, was sold to the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway for $1.1 million in 1980, and became HAFTR High School. The Number One School was sold to developer David Neuberg for $29.1 million in 2007, and transformed into a condominium complex.

Voting will take place on Feb. 16 in the gym at Lawrence High School, at 2 Reilly Road in Cedarhurst, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Have an opinion on the proposed sale of the former Number Five School? Send a letter to jbessen@liherald.com.