Seymour has two offers from entities hoping to buy the former LoPresti School at 29 Maple St. and a third offer is on the way, First Selectman Kurt Miller said.
“We’re currently in conversation with one person who made an offer,” Miller said Nov. 25. He said the third offer is expected to be handed in next month.
The town is trying to negotiate a deal, so Miller wouldn’t disclose the parties involved, the types of uses proposed, or the dollar amounts being discussed.
The Board of Selectmen has been kept apprised of the situation through executive sessions, a type of meeting closed to the public, but allowed when officials are taking about real estate deals.
The school, built in 1910 with an addition in 1980, stopped being used as a school last fall.
It is roughly 52,000 square feet on 4.6 acres in a predominantly residential neighborhood.
Miller said the town is open to a variety of future uses, ranging from office space to housing.
The town isn’t necessarily looking at the sale as a cash cow.
“It’s not about the money. It’s about getting the best possible use out of the building that maintains the character of the neighborhood,” Miller said.
If it’s office space, it has to be low-impact in terms of traffic for the surrounding neighborhood, Miller said.
In Shelton, an old school is being used as office space and performing space.
It’s an idea that could work in Seymour, Miller said.
If LoPresti is converted into housing, Miller said the town prefers market-rate units that are marketed toward young professionals looking for easy access to Route 8 or the Metro-North train station.
“The way the (request for proposals) was written, the town has control over what goes in there,” he said.
While the First Selectman wouldn’t go into details about the specific uses being proposed by potential buyers, he did say that at least one of the offers corresponds with what the town wants.
“One (offer) definitely is. The second one, we’re not so sure on,” Miller said. “The third offer I can’t really comment on until I see it in hand, but based on initial conversations I’d say the third offer is something we’d be interested in as well.”
The town has money from the Valley Council of Governments to explore whether there are hazardous materials sealed anywhere inside the building.
“It’s a 100-year-old building, so we need to get an idea of any potential remediation we may be looking at,” Miller said.
