A developer of historical buildings plans to turn the old Whittier Elementary School at 290 S. 10th St., Kansas City, Kan., into residential housing.
The vacant school building is in poor condition and has had a fire and has been the target of vandalism, according to Chris Slaughter, Land Bank manager.
The redevelopment proposal that was discussed, however, is still in the very early stages.
Slaughter told the Unified Government Neighborhood and Community Development Standing Committee Monday that the 86,000-square-foot building sits on about 2 acres. It had been appraised at $124,180.
The property was in and out of tax sales since 2009, Slaughter said. Last November, the property was in a tax sale, no one bid on it, the taxes were high, and the minimum bid was $37,829.39, he said. The Land Bank acquired it, he said. Then there was a fire at the property in December 2014, he said.
Even before the fire, the property was showing signs of neglect and had been stripped of metal, he said.
Then the Land Bank asked for proposals and received three, he said. One of the proposals, to put a charter school there, was not selected, he said. Two companies were interviewed for development of the property, and the UG selected Foutch Brothers.
Foutch Brothers has previously developed another old school building in Kansas City, Kan., the Horace Mann School building, into apartments.
Foutch Brothers is offering $10 cash to buy the property, he said. It would agree to demolish and clean up the property in the next six months, he said. Then construction would take 12 months, he added. The southside playground area would be turned into a green space, he said.
In the second phase, there will be possible new properties there, he said.
“They are proposing market-rate housing,” he said.
“They feel very strongly that with the school there and the success they had with Horace Mann, which they mentioned as a good example to base on, they feel very confident with what they could do with this property,” Slaughter said.
The old Whittier school was built by Rose and Peterson, architects in 1919 and 1920, and used a lot of brick and terra cotta in construction, with classical detailing and a two-story rectangular block appearance. This was one of several schools here that was designed so that it would be easy to add additional space if needed.
Foutch Brothers had listed approximate project costs as $101,000 for site costs; $90,000 for landscaping; $43,000 for concrete work; $29,000 for debris removal; $173,000 for carpentry, $86,000 for exterior work; $101,000 for doors and windows; $159,000 for interior work; $37,000 for finishings; $44,000 for security and fire prevention; $354,000 for heating and cooling; $231,000 for miscellaneous; for a total of $1.45 million.
Commissioner Hal Walker asked if Foutch would expect any tax abatements, besides the UG essentially giving them the property.
A representative of Foutch said they would seek the minimum tax abatement for the project. Because of the fire damage, there is a large gap in the project, he said. They believe there is over $100,000 to do abatement and demolition on the project, he added.
“Even if the city were to choose to abandon the property, demolish and level it, not exactly the sustainable approach, the city would still be on the hook for a six-figure price tag there,” he said.
The project was advanced to go to the full UG Commission meeting on Oct. 1. The proposal currently is to sell the property to Foutch for $10. The development may need to return to the Economic Development and Financing Standing Committee for approval.
Forty-five percent of the project would be financed with historic tax credits, which would be private equity on the project, the Foutch representative said. And Foutch also would use a mortgage, he added. If there is still additional equity past the 45 percent, he said, because of all the damage to the building, that is when Foutch would present and ask for a tax abatement.
By approving this action to move the project forward on Monday night, Commissioner Hal Walker said he was not committed to this project, or any other project, until he sees the final agreement and the commission has the opportunity to review it.
“We want to make sure we bring a strong enough deal to approval that both of us are excited about it, and the neighborhood is on board,” the Foutch representative said. “Before we can have neighborhood meetings, get the input, do all the diligence, this is the best proposal we can give you. It’s the honest proposal.”
Walker said he would rather see the school survive and be market-rate apartments or residences than be torn down; however, the devil was in the details.
Commissioner Brian McKiernan said, “This (sale) would be the absolute best outcome. As it sits today is the absolute worst outcome, because it is an absolute haven for mischief and it is an eyesore to the neighborhood. It is a danger to the neighborhood.”
Getting control of the property through the tax sale was the UG’s way of facilitating that process, whether it be to demolition or to renovation and occupancy, McKiernan said.
Slaughter referred to the process of transferring delinquent properties to the Land Bank and then selling or developing them as a pilot program.
The old Whittier School was one of about 25 properties that were discussed by the committee on Monday night.