Negotiations Continue Over Sale of School Administration Building

Representatives from Birmingham Public Schools continue to negotiate the sale of the district's , according to a report presented to the Birmingham Board of Education on Tuesday night.

Debbie Piesz, assistant superintendent for business services, said the district is negotiating with a group of local attorneys who want to move their offices from Troy.

Piesz said the district has been trying to sell its nonschool buildings for several years in an effort to reduce the district's physical footprint and generate revenue.

The district owns four nonschool facilities: the administration building, the , the Meadow Lake school — a former elementary school on Inkster Road currently being leased to the French School of Detroit — and the district's busing facilities on Cole Street.

Efforts to sell the administration building, however, have been under way for several years now. Board President Susan Hill noted at the board's Dec. 13 meeting that the building has been under contract in the past, but those deals fell through. In September 2009, the district received offers of $2.5 million and $1.8 million for the building.

Piesz said that if the building is sold, administrators would move to space available in other buildings owned by district, including potential space in three school buildings. The district doesn't have any plans to purchase new properties, she said.

Piesz said Tuesday night that a final agreement may be come before the board at its next meeting.