Shaler Area agrees to sale of former elementary school to real estate company; township believed it was buyer

Shaler commissioners were blindsided this week by the announcement that Shaler Area School District reached an agreement to sell the former Jeffery Primary building.

The township believed it had a verbal agreement for the acquisition, Manager Tim Rogers said.

“The district never advised us that they had retracted the offer to monetize the sale of the property,” Rogers said. “We are of course disappointed with the decision of the school board.”

The vacant elementary school building along Wetzel Road was offered for sale by the district to Shaler for $120,000, Rogers said.

The 31,500-square-foot school sits directly across from the municipal building and Kiwanis Park, making it an obvious extension to the complex, he added.

Bethany Baker, district communications specialist, said the district did not have a signed purchase and sale agreement with Shaler Township.

The sale to ANG Real Estate was approved by the school board on Dec. 9 for $499,000. Final approval is subject to review by the district solicitor.

Representatives from ANG Real Estate were not immediately able to be reached for comment.

Superintendent Sean Aiken said the district and the township communicated intermittently over the past two years regarding the potential sale.

In November, the two sides discussed a potential price for which the township would be willing to purchase the property, Aiken said.

“While those discussions were ongoing, the school district received a full price offer from ANG Real Estate,” he said.

“As a steward of taxpayer money, the school district informed the township of this change of events and accepted the offer.”

The deal is subject to a pending 90-day due diligence period for ANG to pursue zoning approval to use the property for a purpose other than a school.

The district closed Jeffery Primary in 2018 ahead of the grand opening of the newly constructed Scott Primary School, which was built to house students in kindergarten through third grade from Jeffery Primary and the former Rogers Primary school enrollment districts.

It has sat vacant since that time, after an initial $650,000 deal between the district and Mt. Alvernia Day Care fell through.

The building sits on six acres, one-third of which is a parking lot that appealed to township commissioners to improve traffic congestion at busy park events.

Baker said the district partnered with Fourth River Development in April 2020 to market the sale of Jeffery Primary. The company specializes in helping school districts market and sell unused school properties.

The listing attracted multiple inquiries and requests to tour the property, she said.

There were multiple offers on the property.

“We have a responsibility to the residents of Etna, Millvale, Reserve and Shaler to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money,” Aiken said.

Rogers said the township’s plans for the building were not clear but that at least a part of it would have been converted for community use.

“The facility is a significant part of the park property. It was originally transferred to the school district for the construction of the school by the Kiwanis Club of Glenshaw with the hopes that if the property was no longer used as a school that it would be returned to the recreational benefit of the community,” he said.

Rogers said the school was built through tax dollars from Shaler residents and then enlarged and maintained by township residents before it was turned over to the district.

Pending final agreement requirements by ANG Real Estate, a closing date could be set for spring 2021.