Interest in Wichita school properties means no auctions yet

A broker handling the sale of several former Wichita schools says there’s no plan to auction the properties – at least not yet.

Grant Tidemann of J.P. Weigand & Sons said Friday that there’s been significant interest in the four remaining surplus properties, which the Wichita school board listed for sale last month.

“We’ve had enough interest that we don’t necessarily have to go to the auction method at this point in time,” Tidemann said.

The remaining properties are:

▪ Blackbear Bosin Academy (formerly Price Elementary), 6123 E. 11th St.

▪ Gateway Alternative (formerly Metro-Midtown Alternative High School), 640 N. Emporia

▪ Longfellow Elementary, 2116 S. Main

▪ Metro-Boulevard Alternative High School (formerly Willard Elementary), 751 S. George Washington Blvd.

School district officials had recommended that three of the schools – Gateway, Longfellow and Metro-Boulevard – be sold at auction.

Two other surplus properties have sold over the past month. Metro-Meridian, at Maple and Meridian, sold for $275,000; and about 17 acres of land adjacent to Jackson Elementary, at 29th St. North and Woodlawn, sold for $750,000.

“We’ve got enough activity on the rest of them that we’re going to hold off on the auction process until we see where we end up,” said Tidemann, the broker.

Anyone interested in the properties should contact Tidemann at 316-262-6400.

This story was originally published May 26, 2017 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Interest in Wichita school properties means no auctions yet."