WVW sells Schuyler building to Cheder Menachem for $660K

KINGSTON — It was assessed at about $2 million more than a decade ago. It was recently appraised at $460,000. The asking price when it went on sale was $515,000.

When the bidding wars started the sale was delayed, but when the dust settled the Wyoming Valley West School Board voted to sell the former Schuyler Elementary School for $660,000.

And while the purchaser is a religious non-profit, they wanted the building seriously enough to agree to pay property taxes.

At a special meeting Friday morning, the School Board agreed to conclude months of negotiations and counteroffers, selling the venerable building to Cheder Menachem, the same organization currently using the former Wilkes-Barre Area School District Coughlin high school annex for a kindergarten through 8th grade school. The organization’s Executive Director Yosef Baumgarten said after the meeting that the Wilkes-Barre location will remain open, but enrollment is expected to expand by another 50 to 75 students and more room is needed.

Attorney Ray Wendolowski explained that three parties expressed interest in the Schuyler building: Cheder Menachem for a school, D& D for apartments, and U-Haul, apparently for a self-storage facility. The bids as of Friday morning were, respectively, $660,000, $650,000 and $640,000.

Wendolowski said the County’s assessed value, which went into effect 2009, was obviously overpriced because a recent appraisal done to put the building on the market was less than one-quarter that. The bottom line: thanks to the bidding war, the district will get more than both the assessed value and the original asking price. All the money will go into the district’s Capital Projects fund.

The organization has also agreed to pay property taxes on the building, to the school district, county and municipality. In fact the sale agreement being drawn up will include a clause requiring that the property never become tax exempt and that it never be used as a charter school. If those terms are violated, the property will revert to district ownership.

The deal requires approval from a Luzerne County court. Wendolowski predicted it would take 60 to 90 days before the sale can be closed. Baumgarten expressed confidence it will be finalized in time to open the doors as a school again this fall.

The board also approved an agreement with SitelogIQ to begin a Guaranteed Energy Savings Performance Contract. Wendolowski stressed the initial work is at no charge to the district. As it has been offering in other area districts, SitelogIQ offers to do the initial review at no cost, providing a maximum cost for upgrading each building. The School Board would then vote on whether to authorize the work, with a guarantee that the improvements will result in energy savings at least equal to the cost after a certain number of years.