Who purchased Marylawn?

I was in a recent discussion about this with friends.There were different opinions and I'd like to know the real story.Is it going to be used by the Orange Public Schools? Don't see how that can possibly happen. Also was the Orange Lawn townhouse deal cancelled?

I saw Sheena posted the following on FB:

This goes back about five years (before I was the Village President) so I'm going to give a summation and I'll note my "editorial" comments.

1) 2012ish - Sisters of Charity close the school and start advertising the property for development potential. VP Note: This was bizarre for any property owner to advertise a price for land soliciting a non-permitted use of the property, meaning its zoning. This goes no where. Every developer knew they would have an uphill battle so the property would not transact

2) Seton Hall Medical School steps in circa early 2014ish and proceeds with testimony before the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Neighbors oppose this for various reasons. Seton Hall withdraws its application before a final vote. VP Note: Some claimed there would be no taxes since Seton Hall is tax exempt. They are but they pay 75% of otherwise applicable taxes for all properties outside the University Zone.

3) I'm involved at this point and favored a) relaxing the zoning from single family and the nonconforming use of a school site to allow for town home development geared at senior citizens, aging in place and a new tax ratable. We had a working group consisting of professionals, the governing body, and the neighborhood including Montrose and West Montrose

4) The Sisters of Charity kept advertising the property outside of its regulatory zoning. VP Note: Again, I've never seen any property owner do this before. It's like being a single family homeowner in an RA-100 zone and saying you're looking for an apartment developer to come in and they can build 50 feet into the air. So the governing body put the property back on the tax rolls and I fully supported this. It seems harsh but it's not. Properties aren't exempt because of the owner, they're exempt because of the "use". The school was tax exempt. Sitting idle and advertising to developers is not tax exempt. VP Note: We've received the taxes but the former owners have appealed this in court.

5) Then here comes the Orange Education Foundation who proposed leasing the property back to the Orange School District for the purposes of a STEM school. They appeared before our Planning Board for a "courtesy review". The best way to explain this is that it's another government entity utilizing the building and an inherently beneficial use (sorry, land use term) and so they were approved, again, a "courtesy review". The PB really has no teeth in those types of situations. Had the PB denied this application, we would have ended up in court and lost and lost bad and rightfully so

6) Fast forward to earlier this year. I was notified that the deal fell through with the Orange Education Foundation and the property was going back on the market. Because I meet regularly with the BOE, I knew they may have an interest in the property, so I gave them a head start before we went public with the announcement. My understanding is that the BOE facilities committee was very interested in the property, met with the broker, engaged professional services to go through the building, etc. This is May-Aprilish of this year. I was hopeful this property would be retained for the SOMSD. In June, we were notified the Orange Education Foundation received the necessary financing and would be closing later in the month. The BOE along with myself (and I believe Maplewood) made our case to the Acting Commissioner of the Department of Education advocating that the resident/host district have the first right of acquiring the property (given that the purchase price remain relatively equal). While I knew it would be a stretch, I still supported our school district. Ultimately we got the news that it was too late for the district and the property had closed. I think I'm at

7) the Orange Board of Education is going to be operating a STEM school which are the renovations you are seeing. There's a long term lease agreement between the Orange Education Foundation and the BOE. To the best of my knowledge, the property transacted around $8.3M. I'm unaware of the details regarding SOMA students having seats in the new school

8) Just from a municipal land use perspective, if I were on the BOE and had the appropriate knowledge of the space needs back in 2014 when Seton Hall was not moving forward, I would have made an offer for the property based on an appraisal (or multiple appraisals from us and them) and if a deal couldn't be struck and the property owner insisted on more based on non-permitted uses in our zoning, I would have proceeded with eminent domain for the public's benefit. This is actually a great example of when a BOE (or town) would use it's municipal powers to promote the public good (keep in mind, the owners would receive the real market value of the property as an existing school or single family homes after the school would be torn down). But that's playing Monday morning quarterback, and I hate that - I just wanted to give you the example. For those who follow the schools which is pretty much everyone here, you would know that this timeline and the window I mentioned above was at the exact time that the prior superintendent left and the BOE was in the middle of a search. It would have been very difficult without having a Superintendent to have that type of thoughtful conversation and not to mention the budget cap even if they bonded for the property. Some people say "just bond for it". Bonding is also taxing authority and there's a downpayment which comes from the operating budget which would have a large impact (at the purchase price number) on existing staff and programs. I told myself to use a couple brief bullet points but it never seems to happen. In closing, I do agree that Orange will certainly benefit from this property and as a result, we all do better. We should be viewing education regionally and not in silos. However, as a representative of this town, I would have preferred that our school district, which also has very significant challenges, occupy the space and had the timing been right - that would have likely occurred. So I certainly wish the Orange BOE all the success in the world and I hope some deal can be struck between the two districts on how some of our local students may be able to benefit from the STEM school. The end.

I never saw that post.  So, the town of Orange will be operating a school in our town and it will remain tax exempt?

It was in SOMA lounge.

And yes, after other plans requiring zoning changes were shot down, the owners found a partner who didn't need them.

michaelgoldberg said:

I never saw that post.  So, the town of Orange will be operating a school in our town and it will remain tax exempt?

It seems to me that the Orange Board of Ed got around this by using the Orange Education Foundation. I wonder who is in control of that foundation. I would like to know of other examples of schools not in their own districts. I really find this hard to understand( as a former elementary school teacher).

Thanks for that explanation.  I wish we had more stability at the top of our school system.

galileo said:

It seems to me that the Orange Board of Ed got around this by using the Orange Education Foundation. I wonder who is in control of that foundation. I would like to know of other examples of schools not in their own districts. I really find this hard to understand( as a former elementary school teacher).

http://www.nonprofitfacts.com/NJ/Orange-Education-Foundation.html

Thanks for info. If the school was run as a private school that would be one thing The Orange Education Foundation  is renting it to the Orange Board of Ed for Orange students. That info goes to 2013. A lot of it is vague.

54:4-3.6. The following property shall be exempt from taxation under this chapter: all buildings actually used for colleges, schools, academies or seminaries.

http://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/2013/title-54/section-54-4-3.6/

Stupid question - can South Orange/the Bd of Ed (or their shell Foundation) now purchase a bunch of decrepit property in East Orange or Orange on the cheap, build a new school and then re-develop the land from some of our most existing decrepit schools into commercial tax-revenue producing ratables?  

Columbia High School Shopping Mall/Wegmans/Luxury Apartment tower, anyone?  

Wegman's!  If we made CHS apartments it would just add to the school system burden, and would increase the number of students who would now need busing since the school would be more than 2 miles away. Besides, I love Wegman's international section, far superior to what most supermarkets have.

galileo said:

It seems to me that the Orange Board of Ed got around this by using the Orange Education Foundation. I wonder who is in control of that foundation. I would like to know of other examples of schools not in their own districts. I really find this hard to understand( as a former elementary school teacher).

I do not know of any other examples but it is like only a block from the Orange border. So hardly remote to that city.

The Orange Bd. of Education saw an opportunity to achieve one of the goals of its Strategic Plan and took advantage of it. 

"Objective 1: By the year 2021, Orange Public School students will achieve academic proficiency in 21st  Century skills, readying them for college and career. 

 E. 20% of the high school age population will be enrolled in the STEM Academy.

Objective 3: By the year 2021, Orange Public Schools will seek and provide the resources necessary to  create additional instruction space that will allow for the restructuring of grades and expansion of  program offerings, empowering all learners to achieve 21st century learning success. 

 A. Facilities: Improve/Expand school facilities through construction, purchase and rehabilitation of   buildings, grounds, and equipment "

https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/cms/lib/NJ01000601/Centricity/Domain/1777/Orange%20Action-Strategic%20Plan%202014-2021.pdf 

I haven't taken a look at the SOMA Strategic Plan. 

How does the fact that Orange is an Abbott district figure into all of this?  

I don't see how it affects us at all.  We missed our chance at the place.

I don't care to research this deeply, and what's done is done.  My point is that since Abbotts are funded by the state and not the locality, this feels like a double whammy.  

I would just like to interject into all the handwringing that we could have had Barak Obama as superintendent and we would not have been able to pass an $8.5 million bond issue, so the whole "wish we could have bought it" conversation is pointless.

I apologise for the lateness of this response. 

Yes, Orange is a former Abbott district (called something else now). No, they cannot purchase property, but the property is owned by The Orange Educational Foundation.

There were places for ten SOMA students (notice the sign says STEM schools of the Oranges). I heard none applied. 

The school is still being not used. OBOE says there are issues with passing code enforcement.

I'm curious if the option for the 10 spots for Soma kids was well publicized/promoted? I see there is an empty building next to the Stem academy. What if that could be used for mutual benefit--for example, helping fill in holes in Soma's SPED services...possibly could reduce costs associated with some "out of district" placements since they come in with Abbott resources...

Does anyone know if there are any OOD placements coming INTO soma for the new preschool?

Another feather in the cap for Ramos (sarcasm).

berkeley said:

I'm curious if the option for the 10 spots for Soma kids was well publicized/promoted? 

This whole thing is a very confusing situation. Why doesn't the Orange Board of Education get its act together? Instead they need to rent a school compliments of the Orange Education Foundation. Still can't quite figure out this foundation. Only one person is mentioned and nothing is up to date.

I don’t think there is anything nefarious about the Foundation. We have one here—it’s called Achieve now but used to be So-ma Ed foundation I believe. You should be able to locate some financial info (990) through Guidestar or Foundation Center.

Soma Education Foundation or Achieve does not,as I understand it, maintain its own school.This seems completely different. As I said before,why doesn't Orange work to correct what they have?

I’m not sure what you mean about working to “correct what they have”? It seems that trying to improve STEM education for their students would be a step in the right direction. The foundation isn’t running the school, they provided the financing and are leasing it to the district. The mission of these types of “educational foundations” is generally to support the efforts of the local district.

Many districts have foundations to raise money and buy some goodies. What seems unusual is to have one with the funds to buy an entire building.

galileo said:

This whole thing is a very confusing situation. Why doesn't the Orange Board of Education get its act together? Instead they need to rent a school compliments of the Orange Education Foundation. Still can't quite figure out this foundation. Only one person is mentioned and nothing is up to date.

LOL. Seems pretty straightforward to me. Orange established a goal for kids in their district and then moved faster and with more purpose than anyone else. I think it's impressive and I look forward to seeing the facility thrive.