RO School Board accepts offer for Bancroft and Webster buildings

The Red Oak School Board has moved forward with plans to sell the former Bancroft and Webster buildings to a local developer.
At a special meeting Jan. 29, the board held a public hearing on the conveyance of the Bancroft and Webster properties. Representatives Jeff Soe and Tim Werges from Acorn Development presented proposals to purchase the Bancroft and Webster properties.
Red Oak city administrator Lisa Kotter addressed the board, saying the city is updating its comprehensive plan and one of the goals was improving the visual appearance of our community, looking at our housing stock, increasing recreational opportunities, and improving our infrastructure. Kotter had issued a letter of support for the sale of the buildings to Acorn Development.
“We haven’t talked about it officially at the city level, but hopefully you’re supportive of that and that we can work together. We think that some of the things that we’ve discussed with ACORN are all things that can be resolved, just looking at utilities, various things like that. It seems like a good proposal. We appreciate their commitment to the community, the school board’s willingness. Obviously those are properties that could be used much differently than they’ve been used for a long time,” Kotter said.
According to Kotter’s letter, city staff have had meetings with the Acorn team to discuss items such as zoning, utilities, and incentives. While there are still items to work out, the city believed the team’s plan is one that can be brought to fruition for the betterment of the two sites.
The sale of the properties, Kotter said, would go along with some of the goals of the community that came out of that plan. Kotter closed by saying the city was willing to partner both with Acorn and fruition.
Superintendent Ron Lorenz said the district issued a request for proposals for the conveyance of the buildings, and Acorn was the only organization to issue a proposal.  Tim Werges serves as the treasurer of Acorn Development II. Werges said the purpose of that entity is meant for community betterment.
“What our proposal is, for the purchase of the Webster and Bancroft sites, is to buy those sites, demolish the existing structures, and then turn those into single-family housing lots. We’re proposing a purchase price of $1,000 per property,” commented Werges.
Jeff Soe said the first abatement would be done at the former Bancroft building. 
“We think it will take about three weeks for the abatement firm to clean that up, get it ready for demolition. The abatement firm, when they’re done with Bancroft, would then move to Webster and do the abatement there. And then the demolition will follow in the same order,” advised Soe. “It will start with Bancroft and then move to Webster. Our goal is to have lots available for the building trades classes for this fall at the Bancroft site and Webster shortly after that.”
School Board Member Kathy Walker asked about the number of lots  available on the sites after completion of the demolition. Soe said there would be multiple lots on each site.
“We have four to five lots on the Bancroft site and probably five lots on the Webster site, two up top, three down at the bottom. We’ve got a different range of price points of houses we’re building. It’s kind of worked out fortunately when we first started doing this. We didn’t have anybody on board to buy them, but as it’s kind of gone along, we’ve had a purchaser in hand as the houses were getting built, so we were kind of getting built to their specs, what they wanted.”
As for the construction, Soe said there were some opportunities for the building and trades program.
“There might be an opportunity for lots at both the Bancroft and Webster sites. They might be a mixture. Our immediate goal, though, is to try to get some lots for building trades down at the Bancroft site. We really struggled trying to find empty lots to build on this last year. And so we want to try to have a whole series of them to go on,” Soe stated.
Lorenz said there had been a lot of talk about construction that matches the aesthetic of the neighborhoods.
“They’ve had some discussion just with respect to the building trades program.  The Bancroft site, that neighborhood really lends itself very well to the type of homes that our kids could build well, and build in a timely manner. We could create some economies of scale, having those lots kind of lined out. Has there been consideration of making sure that what’s built really fits well in the community?” Lorenz asked.
In the Bancroft area, Soe said they had a target size for roughly 1,100 square foot houses.
“Something that’s affordable to get into and would fit the neighborhood, fit in the lot. That’s the other thing we’re kind of dealing with there is that down in that part of town, all the lots are pretty narrow. So we know we can’t get too wide with them unless we want to start doubling up on lots. But then it wouldn’t really fit in with the rest of the neighborhood. So that’s why we think it’s going to be four to five houses. They’ll be kind of long and narrow and kind of fit the profile of the rest of the houses that are down there, as far as the layout. As far as looks, they’ll look brand new and have current finishes on them, but just be smaller and affordable,” Soe explained.
Soe said they did not intend to have basements constructed on the homes at the Bancroft site.
“Those would be like a single floor ranch home. As for the time frame, our goal is just to get lots. And then the building trades program will come along and build as they can to fill those lots out. So our biggest push is to have something to go on next school year. But that would allow you to have five lots in the next five years, because typically the kids are going to construct a home each year and or maybe two if they’re simpler construction,” Soe said. “Webster development is only going to be trailing by a few months, so the plan up there has to be developed. We’re thinking that the upper two lots might be spec homes, then maybe building trades at the bottom or something different than that.”
Ryan Beeson, representing the Red Oak Chamber, which a partner with the Red Oak School District and Southwestern Community College in the building trade program addressed the board.
“It was a real eye opener when we tried to find this first lot. Other than the Woodland Hills subdivision, there is simply nowhere to build in Red Oak period. And with those locations, we are subject to the covenants. We have to build a certain square footage of homes. The home we’re building now currently is the largest project at SWCC. They’ve never built a house this big. That was the first time they’ve done this. And if we want to see this project continue, we’ve got to get to an area where we can build simpler, smaller homes. Right now there are none. So hopefully this proposal would solve that issue.”
Board President Bret Blackman asked Lorenz if there was other feedback or for the board or comments. Aside from Beeson’s comments and the letter from Kotter, Lorenz said the district has received no direct or official feedback from the community, but he has personally received a great deal of feedback, all of which was in support of this proposal.
“I received a great deal of very positive feedback, a number of text messages and emails. I have not heard anything contrary to that,” Lorenz commented.
Blackman said he had also been seeking input and had not received any negative feedback either.
“This is a win-win for the district, the community, for everybody involved here, which I think is awesome. Acorn has got an incredible track record here in this community, proven results that do positively impact the community around us. And so I applaud your efforts and thank you for coming forward on this,” stated Blackman.
With no other oral or written comments, the public hearing was closed.
The board then discussed the conveyance of the properties to Acorn Development for the price of $1,000 each. Lorenz recommended the board approve the proposals.
“This is something that I guess I’ve been working on for five years, and I know that Acorn has been a good partner in the sense that they have enlisted and reached out to the chamber, to the Heritage Foundation. They’re working with the city council. And it’s been really a concerted effort. They’ve been pretty upfront about wanting to support the building trades program that serves our children. And I think that we’ve got a great momentum going here,” Lorenz advised.
Lorenz also addressed the purchase offer, and the misperception that there’s a great deal of value in those buildings.
“In reality, they are a resource drain. The cost to get them to code would be six figures. Even if we were to demolish them, we’re looking at a quarter of a million dollars just to raze the buildings. So I don’t know of any other organization that we could realistically expect to come in that has the wherewithal, that has the capacity to tear those buildings down as the board requested, while hoping to repurpose them in a way that really serves us directly,” explained Lorenz. “I do believe this is a win-win. And I know that’s a cliché that gets overused, but this serves our district, it serves our community, and it’s going serve our kids,” Lorenz commented.
The Board approved the conveyance of the two properties to Acorn Development by deed without warranty.