Search for buyers for empty Cedar Rapids district buildings continues

Many of the Cedar Rapids Community School District's buildings are operating at diminished capacity this summer, but two are actually empty: Monroe and Lincoln.

Progress has been slow for the sale of the school buildings since the district began accepting bids in late 2012.

“I think that we certainly would love to have an acceptable offer by an entity and the sooner we would receive an offer the better, obviously,” said Steve Graham, executive director of business services for the district. “There's no way of predicting moving forward.”

In the meantime, the district is still responsible for maintaining the sites.

Depending on the season, that means someone visits the buildings as often as daily, mows the lawn weekly and keeps up the facilities and surrounding areas.

Inside, water is still turned on in parts of both Monroe and Lincoln for the boilers, the buildings are heated in the winters to prevent freezing and electricity is still on to maintain building security.

“It's not like we can close the building up, turn everything off and walk away,” said Rob Kleinsmith, manager of buildings and grounds for the district. “There are still some basic needs for our utilities.”

If something goes wrong, such as someone recently breaking Monroe skylights in what Kleinsmith termed an act of vandalism, the district is on the hook for those fixes too.

“We have not put in a lot of money to the building in terms of long-term repairs because we do not know what the future holds,” Kleinsmith said. “We are maintaining the buildings so that they are still functional.”

District administrators were not able to provide detailed information about the cost of repairs or keeping the empty schools functional by press time.

‘What the future holds'

If administrators get their wish, sales of both buildings are on the horizon.

Representatives from three parties – a church, assisted living community and a housing group – have expressed interest in the Monroe site, which was appraised at $897,000.

“Some are doing more detailed study than others,” said Scott Olson, a commercial real estate consultant who is representing the Cedar Rapids district in the sale process. “I think from one of those three entities, we're hopefully going to be able to find a buyer that will convert the building.”

After a quiet initial reception, interest increased for Lincoln once the school board voted to lower the building's price. The facility was appraised at $600,000 but Olson said the asking price has dropped to $295,000. The strategy was successful in his view, as a youth nonprofit and a church are both studying the building for potential purchase.

All potential buyers for both sites are local but Olson did not disclose further identifying information.

Zoning plays a role for potential buyers, as does the cost of converting the facilities.

“Any buyer's going to have to make adjustments,” Olson said.

For Olson, selling Lincoln – which was once a Kirkwood Community College site – has been more of a challenge because the older building includes a multi-level area and is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The price reduction actually reflects no value for the multi-level portion of the building, which Olson said any buyer would have to tear down.

Right now there is no deadline for the sale of either property and Graham replied, “No, not really” when asked whether administrators have concretely discussed plans to demolish either site.

At a July 15 board meeting, Superintendent Dave Benson said recommending demolition of the Lincoln site would be “a last resort.”

Olson said he hopes to have the buildings sold and transferred to the new owners by spring 2014.

“My assumption is that if we do not find a buyer for the buildings by sometime early next year, (the district) will probably move forward and clear the buildings off and sell them as raw land,” he said. “They do not want to impact the neighborhoods by having a vacant building.”