Surplus school property sale? It's about time

The Richmond County Board of Education is about to make a smart move.

To help offset its $13.4 million budget shortfall, the board is poised to give final approval to sell off more than $1.5 million in unused real estate, including the old John S. Davidson and Sue Reynolds schools.

The only smarter move would have been to put the properties up for sale several years ago. In the case of the old Davidson school, it might have already been redeveloped into something that contributes to the tax digest, instead of becoming a crumbling structure whose most recent tenants were the homeless.

The school’s proximity to the hospital district makes it prime for medical office development. In fact, an Athens, Ga., developer, Nichols Land & Investment Co., wanted to purchase the property in 2004 to do just that. After months of having its proposal sit unopened on the desk of then-school Superintendent Charles Larke, the company decided that it, too, had better things to do.

As for the old Davidson property, it was allowed to continue its decay.* Whoever wants to renovate it now will not only have to deal with asbestos removal, they’ll have to put the second floor back where it belongs.

When vacant school properties are sold to civic-minded developers,** good things can happen. Just look at what brothers Clay and Braye Boardman are doing with the old William Robinson School in the Summerville district. They’re taking a property that hasn’t been used in more than a decade and investing more than $7 million to turn it into high-end townhomes that will generate revenue for the school district.

The school district’s new chief, Superintendent Dana Bedden, unlike his predecessor, is vowing to run Richmond County schools more businesslike. Eliminating “nonperforming assets,” as a businessman would call them, from the school system’s balance sheet is a great way to start.

* This, unfortunately, was not an isolated incident: Welsh Bros. Construction signed a contract to purchase the school district’s former administrative building on Heckle Street in summer 2004. As the school board – and its longtime legal counsel – waited until the following spring to approve the sale, water had seeped through the roof, damaged the floor and spawned toxic mold.

Feet dragging was also the order of the day in the sale of the old Houghton School to Clay Boardman in 2005. Significant deterioration at the 90-year-old building that occurred after the school board abandoned the property in 2000 had to be repaired before the founders of Heritage Academy, the private Christian school that purchased the school from Mr. Boardman in 2006, could move in a year later.

** The trick is finding someone with a combination of money and vision. When the school district voted to sell the historic Lawton B. Evans school on Walton Way in 1996, the real estate investors who purchased the ornate property along the Augusta Canal had it demolished the following year rather than rehabilitate it. The property is still vacant.

IS IT THERE YET? IS IT THERE YET?: You no doubt have noticed new signs at the Village at Riverwatch project that heralds the future Bass Pro Shops and solicits for other commercial tenants. Call Frank, (706) 951-5490.

What you haven’t noticed yet is anything that resembles actual construction work.
That may seem odd, considering developers had already taken care of most of the site preparation work back when the property was to be a Belk and Dillard’s-anchored “lifestyle center,” but fear not – the typical Bass Pro Shops store takes 10-12 months to build, so the company could wait a few more months to break ground and still meet its goal of a fall 2009 opening.

Based on how rabid Augusta-area outdoorsmen are about the store, the only welcome construction delay would be unseasonably wet weather. That delay would be extremely welcome.

Like, right now.

MORE ON OUTDOORSY RETAILERS: I heard an advertisement the other day for REI, the Kent, Wash.-based retailer that makes hikers, climbers, campers and kayakers go all nutso.

The company has four stores in metro Atlanta but none here. Why, then, are they advertising on local airwaves? Some folks say it’s not uncommon for a company considering locating in an area to go on a pre-emptive brand-building campaign.
I’m not saying REI is coming to our area, but I’ll take the credit for starting the rumor.

IT’S OFFICIAL: Every eighth business in Augusta is now a laser hair removal spa.

WHERE ARE THEY GOING?: The fine folks over at Renaissance Fine Furnishings are adamant their “store closing” sale is not a “going out of business” sale, as yours truly incorrectly reported recently. They say they are planning to move to another location. Those same fine folks, however, when pressed for details on the “new location,” have been adamantly mum.

The leasing agent for the company’s current store at West Town Market Square in Martinez said a move-out date has not been established.

SOMETHING THAT’S DEFINITELY MOVING: The University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center, in a Claussen Road office park, will soon be occupying half of the third floor at the recently renovated Granite Mill, the stone building attached to Enterprise Mill.

The building, constructed 30 years before Enterprise, has been fixed up by Savannah-based owner Melaver Inc. It will house 15,500 square feet of office space and four apartment units, so look for other tenant announcements in the future.

WHO SAYS THERE’S NO MONEY IN FARMING?: The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis came out with personal income report last week. Guess which state saw the biggest gain in from fourth quarter 2007 to the first quarter of 2008?

You guessed it, North Dakota.

The nation’s most least visited state, and the birthplace of Lawrence Welk, posted a 7.6 percent gain in income, largely from what the guv’ment calls “largely a consequence of rising grain prices.” Corn prices jumped 22 percent in the first quarter, while wheat prices rose 18 percent and soybean prices 17 percent.

In Georgia, where we don’t grow as much corn, our personal income increased 1.2 percent during the quarter, giving the Peach State the 12th-best gain during the period. South Carolina, which produces even less corn, fell right about in the middle, with a gain of 0.9 percent and a national ranking of 26.

Hey, that’s better than the low state on the totem pole: Arkansas, where personal income declined 1.9 percent. I’m not sure what the trouble is there.