Impartial property valuation will inform good stewardship of public resources
Eugene School District 4J will seek an independent appraisal of the property that may be sold to the Eugene Family YMCA for a new Y facility.
4J is considering selling a portion of the Roosevelt property to the Y for a new facility.
Roosevelt Middle School is about to be replaced, using voter-approved bond funds. Once the new school is completed in 2016, the portion of the property where the old school now stands could be sold, leased or traded to the Y to construct new recreation facilities, or it could be converted to athletic fields for our students and community to use.
The Roosevelt site offers a win-win opportunity for 4J to provide an ideally located, suitably sized and appropriately zoned site for the Y’s relocation, and for the Y to provide ongoing benefits to our students and our community long into the future. We value our district’s longstanding partnership with the Y, and we look forward to deepening that relationship as close and mutually beneficial neighbors, if a suitable purchase agreement can be reached.
We have not yet agreed on the price for a potential sale.
The Y has offered to purchase the property for $1.5 million, payable over 25 years. However, preliminary information indicates that this offer is below the value of the property. The potential market value could be about $4.5 million, according to a site evaluation by the district’s real property consultant and based on a parcel size of about 5 acres.
We have a responsibility to be good stewards of public resources.
The board and the district are stewards of the taxpayers’ land assets. We take this responsibility seriously. Any decision whether to transfer property out of district ownership, and under what conditions, requires thoughtful and thorough consideration. That must include considering the property’s market value and the amount of revenue the district would realize to provide facilities and services for our students, as well as the non-economic benefits and costs of any proposal.
An independent appraisal will provide more information about the property’s value.
As good stewards of public assets, we need to have accurate and impartial information about the value of the property before we can make an informed response to the Y’s offer. To that end, the district will engage the services of an independent third-party real property appraiser to provide a formal summary appraisal for the property.
The appraisal will not establish a price for the property. It will provide additional information to help the district evaluate the Y’s proposal and inform further discussions.
Our goal is to make the best decision to serve our students and our community.
The board strongly supports the development of a new Y on the property next to the new middle school, if a suitable purchase agreement can be reached. A new Y next to Roosevelt would provide ongoing benefits to our students long into the future.
If the property is not purchased by the Y, it will be converted to athletic fields to provide healthy opportunities for our students and community members.
We look forward to continuing our conversations with the Y and reaching a conclusion that serves our students, our taxpayers and our community well for years to come.
Learn more:
YMCA Initial Offer for Roosevelt Property
Roosevelt Site Evaluation By Real Estate Consultant
4J Response Letter to YMCA
Background:
Earlier article: “4J and YMCA consider a future together at Roosevelt site”
School board discussion: March 19, May 21, June 4, September 17, 2014
