Muscogee County School Board sells surplus property for $535K

The Muscogee County School Board unanimously approved selling a surplus property for $535,000 during its meeting Monday night.

The Rose Hill Center, 435 21^st St., will be turned into apartments, Muscogee County School District operations chief David Goldberg told the board.

The buyer, according to the contract attached to the board’s agenda, is a limited partnership called Rose Hill Redevelopment. Before the meeting, Goldberg told the Ledger-Enquirer in an emailed interview that Celadon Holdings LLC of Chicago is the principal partner.

“They plan to recoup the historic tax credits and develop it into apartments,” he said.

Asked whether any of the other partners are local folks, Goldberg told the L-E, “Not that I am aware of. They have always come in from out of the state to visit the site.”

The Rose Hill Center was built as an elementary school more than 100 years ago. Its most recent purpose was housing the alternative education program for students with severe violations of the district’s behavior code. That program, now called AIM (Achievement, Integrity and Maturity), is in the Edgewood Student Services Center but could be moved again if the board approves the delayed recommendation to reopen the vacant Marshall Middle School and create an alternative education center run by a private, for-profit company.

During the meeting Monday night, the only discussion about selling the Rose Hill Center came when District 8 representative Frank Myers asked whether the contract requires the buyer to use the property for apartments. The contract contains no such condition, Goldberg replied, “but that’s what this company does.”

Myers: “Do you believe that will happen?”

Goldberg: “Yes.”

Myers: “I will vote yes on your word then.”

This story was originally published March 27, 2017 at 10:07 PM.