FLINT, MI – Flint Community Schools has received bids on eight of its 13 vacant properties that were listed for sale.
Thrun Law Firm, who is managing the sale process for the district, made a presentation to the Flint Board of Education at its Wednesday, Sept. 14 meeting.
The Board of Education voted to sell off 13 vacant properties in June – each of them former school buildings: Cook Elementary, Dort Elementary, Garfield Elementary, Johnson Elementary, King Elementary, Lowell Middle School, Manley Elementary, Merrill Elementary, Stewart Elementary, Washington Elementary, Williams Elementary, Wilkins Elementary, and Zimmerman Center.
Five vacant properties – Cook, Garfield, Lowell, Manley and Williams – have not yet received interest from bidders.
After multiple delays with infighting between board members, Thrun presented the bids to the board after 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Each of the bidders interested in the vacant properties are interested in purchasing the property outright, not leasing it, Thrun Law Firm Attorney Philip Clark told board members.
Five of the properties were all bid on by just one bidder, or uncontested, Clark said. One of the properties received a proposal to be purchased for just $400.
Superintendent Kevelin Jones said at a previous meeting that the interest of the administration is to offload all the vacant properties to get them off of the district’s books.
Carol McIntosh and Laura MacIntyre declared interest in leasing the property, but the proposals that were received were only interested in purchasing outright.
Several board members also were concerned about selling the vacant properties to competitors or charter schools in Flint that may take students away from the already-shrinking district.
After back-and-forth discussion between MacIntyre and McIntosh regarding the properties they called “assets,” the board postponed any final decisions on the properties.
The board ultimately decided not to act on the bids they had received, after it voted in June to request proposals for each of the properties.
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