Yesterday's auction of school board-owned properties that we mapped out for you here, raked in $2.3 million. According to nola.com, two of the schools were taken off the auction block since charter schools are interested (they get first dibs). Word on the street says Homer A. Plessy Community School is interested in Hansberry Elementary. John Shaw Elementary was the other school removed from bidding.
· Timbers I and II, 1980s-style, gutted office buildings that were once school board HQs in Algiers, sold for about $1.4M to RaceTrac Petroleum. The Atlanta-based company operates gas stations and convenience stores. A RaceTrac rep told nola.com "no plans had been settled for the property."
· Oretha Castle Haley Elementary on N. Robertson and Franklin Avenue, went way over its $155K value, and sold for $450,000. We were told "demographics indicate that it would be a good site for a senior housing development," but buyer Neal Elabed reportedly has "no plans" yet. Elabed was the director of Urban Beauty, Inc., a retail spot at 1624 Franklin Ave. According to the Secretary of State site, he shares a last name and address with several business owners around town – Urban Express, Brother's Mini Market, a wireless store. Not that we think the 31,153-square foot space will be turned into any of things, for the record.
· The Algiers bus barn, which served as a hospital during the Civil War and was valued at $625K, went to CCNO Development for $375,000. Their lips are sealed, too, but they're no strangers to major preservation projects. CCNO Development are the guys behind the Constance Lofts in the Warehouse District, Venture I and II duplexes in the Seventh and Ninth Wards, and two old folks homes (one of particular preservation importance is the McDonough 16 School on St. Claude Avenue).
· New Orleans school properties sell for $2.3 million in auction [nola.com]
· A map of historic New Orleans school buildings up for auction [Curbed NOLA]
· CCNO Development [official site]
Filed under: