The former Anna LoPresti School on Maple Street could be converted into about 40 market-rate apartments, John Guedes told the Valley Indy Monday.
Guedes is the president and chief executive officer of The Primrose Companies, based on Noble Avenue in Bridgeport.
The company is offering to buy the 52,425-square-foot building from the Town of Seymour for about $335,000.
If the purchase happens, Guedes hopes to invest roughly $4 million in order to convert the building into one-and-two-bedroom apartments.
Rent in the two-bedroom apartments would probably be about $1,200 a month, Guedes said.
The building was a public school until 2012, when it was consolidated with the Chatfield School to create the Chatfield-LoPresti School.
Voters approved the consolidation in 2008.
Guedes is probably best known locally for the Birmingham development on the shores of the Housatonic River in downtown Shelton, where he converted old factory space into market-rate housing.
Converting old Valley buildings into housing has become something of a hobby for the company, Guedes said Monday.
If the sale goes through and the plans are eventually approved by local officials, this will be the fourth such school conversion project for Guedes’ company.
In Bridgeport, Primrose Companies:
- Purchased the former Elias Howe School on Clinton Avenue for $355,000 and converted it into 37 apartments for senior citizens.
- Purchased the Webster School on North Avenue for $300,000 and converted into 19 two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units.
- Purchased the St. Patrick School on Wells Street for $335,000 and converted into 25 two-bedroom apartments and two one-bedroom apartments.
The land in Seymour is zoned for residential use.
Guedes said the Seymour apartments will appeal to young people who can’t get financing to purchase a house because of student loan debt and the shaky housing market.
“Whenever a housing crisis hits and people can’t buy, they look to rent,” Guedes said. “We’ve found that younger couples, especially those that have any higher education, are being burdened by student loans that eliminate the qualifications needed to buy.”
Guedes said while there are options for apartments throughout the lower Valley, much of it is within older structures. That fact makes his converted apartments more attractive to renters, he said.
“The rental market is strong in places like Seymour and Shelton. This will offer new apartments,” he said.
The Seymour Board of Selectmen has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed sale of the school for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 3 at Seymour Town Hall, 1 First St.
