HCDE May Use Realtor to Get Rid of Unused School Properties

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF-TV) – More than 600 new students registered for Hamilton county schools this year.
Superintendent Rick Smith says that’s enough to fill a school.
But in addition to planning for growth like that, the school board is trying to unload some of its unused property.
And, they are looking at a novel way to do that.

SUPERINTENDENT RICK SMITH, HAMILTON CO. SCHOOLS "We’ll be talking about the future sale of the old East Brainerd Elementary school..we need to do that…we are not good landlords for empty buildings."

Superintendent Rick Smith was speaking to the association of PTA’s about property the district doesn’t use.
It’s a way to raise some money to meet the immediate needs.
The old East Brainerd Elementary property could be a boon to the district.

DR. GREG, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER "We have that property that’s sitting on about 9 acres…some of the most valuable property in the city of Chattanooga..and we need to dispose of it, and we’re looking strategically at the best way to do that."

The property has been valued at 2 and a half to 3 million dollars. And that’s where the school board is looking to try something new—get a professional real estate company involved.

GREG MARTIN " We don’t have a precedent for doing this and I asked that question, if there’s a precedent for going out and hiring a real estate firm and paying them a commission to unload some property..and we’ve never done that before..but you know, I’m o.k. doing things we’ve never done before, if its best for the taxpayers."

The school staff is already making plans to take proposals from local real estate companies.
The superintendent says there’s yet another reason for getting rid of the old East Brainerd school–and other unused school property.

RICK SMITH "It costs several thousand dollars a year to keep any building that’s empty ..and trying to keep people off that campus…and the building secure…costs a lot of money."

The old Piney Woods school in Alton Park has been empty for 10 years, and is costing the district 15-thousand dollars a year to maintain.
Hamilton county is talking with a neighborhood group about taking ownership of that building.