Pittsburgh Public Schools looking to sell 4 vacant schools
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Pittsburgh Public Schools is trying to sell four vacant school buildings and a sizable parcel of land to developers with plans that will help the neighborhoods and the district.
The district distributed a request for proposals Monday through Fourth River Development for prospective bidders to purchase and redevelop its surplus property.
The properties available are the former Arlington Elementary in St. Clair, Bon Air Elementary in Bon Air, Horace Mann Elementary in Marshall-Shadeland, Belmar Elementary in Homewood and 23 undeveloped acres in New Homestead, a neighborhood near Hays and Lincoln Place.
The district is seeking proposals that will achieve “high-quality development” that helps nearby properties and the community, provides financial benefits and tax revenue to the district and supports community revitalization efforts, among other requirements, according to the request for proposals.
“The endgame, through all that, is to generate new revenue,” said Pat Morosetti, principal for Fourth River Development.
A spokeswoman for the district did not comment and directed all questions to Fourth River Development.
All four elementary schools have sat vacant for years. Arlington Elementary closed in 2016, replaced by the newly renovated Arlington K-8 in the same neighborhood. Bon Air closed in 2008, Horace Mann in 2006 and Belmar in 2005.
Each of the properties are unique, Morosetti said. They offer their own drawbacks and benefits.
Mann School has the largest lot at 3.1 acres. The majority of its square footage is an old field, which is difficult to find in the middle of the city, Morosetti said. Arlington Elementary is in the best condition, he said, as the other buildings all closed more than a decade ago. All of the school buildings sit on small lots, which presents a challenge for development potential.
Still, Morosetti said the buildings will offer a special opportunity for investors hoping to contribute to the communities they are in.
“All of these are interesting because they’re tucked into the fabric of a neighborhood,” he said.
Morosetti said the district acquired the New Homestead land decades ago with the intention of building a school to support growth in the New Homestead market. The school was never built.
The land is mostly wooded, with a slight, manageable slope that Morosetti said would be perfect for either residential or recreational development. The parcel’s minimum reserve price is $350,000.
The minimum prices for the school are as follows:
• Arlington Elementary, $155,000
• Bon Air, $55,000
• Mann, $190,000
• Belmar, $300,000
In the last several years, Fourth River Development has sold 16 old school buildings for the district. Morosetti said the district has occasionally used request for proposals to find buyers. The process was used to sell the Beltzhoover Elementary and McNaugher Special Education Center buildings.
Morosetti said the RFP process is a useful tool for selling public assets, especially for the properties listed in the current request, which have been on the market for a long time. Putting a strict timeline on the request sometimes motivates potential developers to act sooner rather than later, he said.
“We’ve had these on the market for a while,” Morosetti said. “And we’ve had some interest here and there, but none has materialized into a deal that was agreeable to the district.”
The process also gives the district more influence on what the buildings will be used for once they sell. Morosetti said the district wants to find a venture that would help the community as well as benefit the district financially.
“It’s important to the district what the benefits would be, both to the district and to support neighborhood revitalization,” Morosetti said.