Two former Muscogee schools will get new life after sales, including a $10M development
A former Columbus school is on track to be used for a different purpose, and a previous property deal for another vacant school in the city has a new agreement.
During its called meeting Monday night, the Muscogee County School District board unanimously agreed to sell the former Waverly Terrace School, 2791 11th Ave., to the Cardinal Group of Denver, Colorado, for $425,000.
The board also unanimously approved a revised agreement to sell the former Rose Hill School, 433 21st St., to Brock Ventures of Annapolis, Maryland, for $450,000.
No documents about the deals are publicly available, but MCSD operations chief Dave Goldberg answered some of the Ledger-Enquirer’s questions via email.
Waverly Terrace
The buyer of Waverly Terrace intends to convert the property into “some sort of therapy program,” Goldberg said. It most recently was the home of Early College Academy, which closed in 2019 and merged with Jordan Vocational High School.
The L-E didn’t reach an official from the Cardinal Group before publication.
Waverly Terrace is listed on the real estate website loopnet.com as 2.95 acres with a 19,725-square-foot, one-story building constructed in 1920.
Rose Hill
Five months ago, the L-E reported MCSD’s agreement to sell Rose Hill to Oracle Consulting Services of Louisville, Kentucky, for $350,000. Since then, Goldberg said, “Brock Ventures approached Oracle with a new financing strategy, and together they offered us $100,000 more.”
The buyer still intends to turn Rose Hill into affordable housing, Goldberg said. Brock Ventures owner Stephen Brock confirmed that plan in a phone interview Wednesday with the L-E.
“We hope to rehabilitate the school for elderly affordable housing, using historic tax credits and other similar funds,” he said. “… We’re the buyer, but we will bring a nonprofit into the ownership.”
Brock envisions 40 one-bedroom units on the 1.8-acre property. The project’s estimated cost would be more than $10 million, he said.
The 25,547-square-foot, three-story building, including a full basement, was constructed in 1890, according to LoopNet. Brock said the building would be preserved but other structures might be constructed on the property.
The contract is contingent on winning competitive federal financing from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Brock said, so the project doesn’t have a definitive timeline.
“The best case is to start construction in one year,” he said. “… Once we start construction, it would take another year.”
