Cioni Buildiing could fetch up to $2.2 million, school district is told
The school district has been told by its real estate agent that the district administration building in Uptown Kingston could fetch up to $2.2 million, Superintendent Paul Padalino told the Board of Education this week.
That’s more than triple the amount the district expected to get for the Cioni Building when the issue of selling it was discussed five years ago, Padalino noted.
“We talked five years ago looking at $600,000,” he said.
The district is looking to move its administrative offices from the Cioni Building, at 61 Crown St., to the former Frank L. Meagher Elementary School on Wynkoop Place in Midtown Kingston, but the plan still needs approval from district voters.
The matter will be on the ballot May 16, when voters also will weigh in on the district’s proposed 2017-18 budget and elect school board members. The district won’t formally seek bids for the Cioni Building before getting approval for the Meagher project.
The district rejected two offers for the Cioni Building, both for about $660,000 in October 2014. Last year, a developer called Grupo Habita expressed interest in buying the building for $1 million and turning it into a 34-room luxury hotel, but Padalino said Thursday that that proposal is not yet a formal offer.
Hayes Clement, of Westwood Metes & Bounds Realty, represents Groupa Habita and said Thursday that the developer still is interested in the building.
School board member James Shaughnessy this week expressed concern about having to pay rent to the new owner of the Cioni Building if it changes hands soon, because the move to Meagher wouldn’t happen until 2019.
“I don’t think we should be entering ... any kind of lease for the building for the [time] that we’re going to continue to occupy it,” Shaughnessy said.
Board member Suzanne Jordan said the rent issue shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.
“I would hate to cut off our nose to spite our face,” she said. “If we get a good offer, it may be worth our while to have a reasonable rent agreement and still go forward.”
The Meagher renovation, which is to include space for a prekindergarten program, has a price tag of $4.23 million. The district has said the cost would be covered with $1 million from the sale of Cioni Building, as well as state aid and money from a capital reserve account.