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Light Rain Fog/Mist HALB looking to sell L.B. property
Voters asked to OK ‘win-win’ No. 6 deal
The Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, stepping up its campaign to win voter approval of its bid to buy the long-shuttered No. 6 School in Woodmere, rallied its supporters on March 18 to “get out the vote” on March 31.
Everyone at the lightly attended event appeared to be on message: HALB’s purchase of the school — for $8.5 million plus $2.75 million in notes that would be waived as the Lawrence School District realizes anticipated transportation cost savings — would be a win-win proposition for HALB, its students and faculty, the Lawrence district, and the city of Long Beach.
HALB President Lawrence Hurt said that No. 6 requires an $8 million to $9 million renovation. “It is a significant project,” he said, but one that is in line with “what we expect to earn when we sell the Long Beach property.”
“It seems like every week we have a new potential bidder,” for the Long Beach site, Hurt said. “There’s a lot of interest, which is a little surprising to some of us. We thought that after [Hurricane] Sandy, nobody would be interested in owning beachfront property in Long Beach, but thankfully the reality is there are a lot of people interested in building rental apartments.”
HALB, which has been at 503 W. Broadway in Long Beach for more than 40 years, is in a residential K zone, where multi-family dwellings are allowed to be constructed with a 40-foot height limit, according to city zoning code.
Hurt said that the city was happy with HALB’s planned move, since “it would create a revenue stream they don’t really have” with HALB. City officials did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Richard Hagler, HALB’s executive director, did not return a call for comment.
Long Beach Chamber of Commerce President Michael Kerr said that the sale of the oceanfront property could potentially create a number of issues for the community if it were to be redeveloped. He compared it with the recent approval of the construction of two 15-story buildings on the Superblock, a project that the chamber supports.
