The Seaford Board of Education approved the appointment of commercial real estate firm Greiner-Maltz to help market the sale of the former Seaford Avenue School property.
The unanimous approval vote at the school board's June 14 meeting means Woodbury-based Greiner-Maltz will soon be able to jump-start the process of helping to determine the future of the 5.6 acre property, which closed as an elementary school in 1981. A finalized contract for Greiner-Maltz is expected to be approved next month.
“This is a monumental step I think toward getting rid of this building,” said Seaford Board of Education president Brian Fagan after the vote.
After closing in 1981, the Seaford Avenue School building served as the home of Five Towns College and most recently Nassau BOCES until its lease expired last year.
The Seaford school board first at its June 2 meeting that Greiner-Maltz was their preference as the firm that would be the best fit to determine the future of the Seaford Avenue School property. Greiner-Maltz and Cushman & Wakefield, which both responded to the district’s request for proposals process, had delivered at the April 27 Seaford Board of Education meeting.
Representatives from Greiner-Maltz attended the June 14 meeting at to answer any final questions the school board had prior to selecting the firm. Greiner-Maltz Senior Director John Pujia said once the contract is finalized, the first three to four months of the process will be spent getting the word out to developers about the property being available.
Greiner-Maltz has experience working with other school districts including developing a luxury condo development at a former elementary school in Lawrence as well as an assisted living proposal currently being worked on for property owned by the Syosset-Woodbury School District. Pujia said he expects to receive interest from developers interested in constructing single-family homes, townhouses, condos and an assisted living facility.
Pujia estimated that around $5 million could be reaped for the district if it decides to maintain one or two of the existing little league baseball fields on the property.
Late last year, the district issued a community input that 643 district residents responded to on what to do with the former elementary school. The survey showed strong opposition to many options for the property, but did indicate support for maintaining the little league baseball fields on the land. Any proposal for the property would need to be approved by the community in a referendum.
