City school district HQ listed for sale at $2.25M
The former school building Uptown that houses the Kingston school district’s administrative headquarters has been listed for sale at more than $2 million with a city commercial real estate company.
The Cioni Administration Building at 61 Crown St. is listed at $2.25 million with SVN/DeeganCollins Commercial Realty. The listing describes the building as containing 22,600 square feet, with parking for 65 to 70 vehicles.
Joseph Deegan, a partner in the commercial real estate firm, said Friday there have been several inquiries.
Earlier this month, the Kingston Board of Education voted to open bids at 1 p.m. July 14 for the purchase the building, a former elementary school. The board vote was 8-0 at a meeting Wednesday.
In May, Kingston school district voters approved the renovation of the former Frank L. Meagher Elementary School on Wynkoop Place in Midtown Kingston to house administrative offices and a prekindergarten center.
The district plans to put $1 million from the proceeds of the Cioni Building sale toward the Meagher project. The district was told by its real estate agent in April that the Cioni Building could fetch up to $2.2 million.
Members of the school board have said they are not interested in terms for the Cioni Building sale like those proposed on October 2014, when two bidders said their purchase of the building would be contingent on the district paying rent to use the Crown Street site until it vacates the property.
The bids at that time were $658,000 from Gerald Celente, head of the Kingston-based Trends Research Institute, and
$660,000 from Paul Hakim, a member of the team that tried to bring a casino to the former Nevele Hotel in Wawarsing.
Celente wanted to charge the school district $88,452 per year in rent for the first two years and $99,792 per year for the second two years, with the district paying property taxes, utilities, insurance and operating expenses. Hakim wanted to charge $5 per square foot per year for the district to use about 22,000 square feet, equating to roughly $110,000 per year.
The district subsequently took the Cioni Building off the market pending last month’s vote on the Meagher plan.
The district was told last year that developer Grupo Habita was prepared to pay $1 million for the Cioni Building and turn it into a 34-room luxury hotel. Grupo Habita has not tendered a formal offer but apparently is still interested in the building.
Formerly School No. 7, the Uptown building was later named for the late schools Superintendent Vincent Cioni.