PARK HILL SCHOOL SOLD
Bennie Nicolo
Developer to pay $1M for Park Hill Elementary in NLR
By Aziza Musa
This article was published today at 5:55 a.m.
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PHOTO BY ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
A map showing the location of Park Hill Elementary.
A commercial property developer has bought another vacant North Little Rock school, after the School Board approved the sale Tuesday.
In a unanimous vote, the North Little Rock School Board sold the former Park Hill Elementary at 3801 John F. Kennedy Blvd. to TerraForma LLC of Maumelle for $1 million, according to board documents. The district will pay all closing costs on the 5.27-acre property, according to the agreement.
"This price is above and beyond the previous properties we sold," said Adam Jenkins, the district's real estate agent with Newmark Grubb Arkansas.
The Maumelle company is hoping to turn the elementary school into retail and office space, Jenkins said. The elementary school, which dates back to 1924, has had notable alumni, including Academy Award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen.
The district in 1960 added on to the now 40,360-square-foot building.
In September, TerraForma bought four other North Little Rock School District campuses -- Lynch Drive, Baring Cross, Rose City and Argenta school buildings -- for $250,000. The sales were first approved in April for $500,000, but the district reduced the price because of recent vandalism that severely damaged the Lynch Drive building at 5800 Alpha St.
That property had earlier been appraised at $2.25 million, but several break-ins in August and September ravaged the electrical, cable and copper wiring, brass plumbing fixtures and nearly all of the urinals. Many of the classrooms were also extensively damaged, officials said at the time.
The Park Hill contract includes a clause that leaves the district responsible for any vandalism or break-ins that occur on the property until the closing date.
The contract includes a 90-day contingency period to account for results of a feasibility study, environmental report, and rezoning, platting, re-platting or zoning verification. The developer can add another 90-day contingency period for a total of 180 days, according to the contract.
The closing date is 30 days after either of the contingency periods.
The board also double-checked whether the contract for Park Hill would have a noncompete clause that was in the other contracts. The clause restricts the properties from being used in competition with the school district, which would include conversion to charter schools. Also, the district requires that it will receive the right of first refusal to buy back a school before TerraForma sells to a third party at whatever price the third party agrees to pay for the property.
"I just want to make sure we have that language in there because that's a wonderful location for a school," School Board member Ron Treat said.
District Superintendent Kelly Rodgers said Park Hill was "a very unique facility" that would likely be designated as a historical property. The community would like to see the property kept in its current state, he added.
Tuesday's sale leaves only Amboy Elementary at 2400 W. 58th St. on the market, Jenkins said. Both Amboy and Park Hill were listed for sale in February. The board has reduced the price of the remaining property to $750,000 from $1.25 million.
The 9,000-student district has entered the final stages of its capital improvement program, which will whittle the district's schools down to 13, all newly built or completely remodeled. The district currently has 14 schools, with one set to close by next year.
"We're well on the downhill side with construction," Rodgers said.
Metro on 12/23/2015
Print Headline: Developer to pay $1M for Park Hill Elementary in NLR