Advisors: auction assessment recommended as no 'silver bullet' price exists for Kate Valley Middle School

The board heard from Nathan of Three Rivers Commercial Advisors on options to sell Kate Valley Middle School. Nathan said the property is an excellent facility but part of a wider national trend in which supply of large school buildings outpaces market demand.

He described robust outreach metrics from the listing—thousands of direct mail pieces and tens of thousands of emails opened and sent—and said roughly 947 parties engaged in outreach responses, yet that interest has not translated into a reliable market that would guarantee a quick sale at a specific price. "There is not a silver bullet price where we can ensure a sale," he told trustees.

Nathan recommended the district partner with an international auction company (platforms such as LoopNet/CoStar/10X) to run an assessment and, if warranted, an auction. He said that step typically yields a reserve number (the minimum sale price at which the property would close) and often imposes little to no direct cost on the seller. "That sequence could happen probably over the next month or so...we could get perhaps by July an idea of what that value is," he said.

Board members raised site constraints (soil maps and former wetlands for the athletic fields) and asked whether parcelizing the property might help. Nathan advised caution: breaking parcels can create easement and marketing complications, and the better strategy is often to market the whole property unless due diligence shows separate parcels would materially increase value.

On timing, Nathan recommended using the quiet summer months for due diligence and aiming to market and possibly auction in September or October to capture the best institutional and investor attention before the holidays. The board did not take action but directed staff to consider the auction assessment recommendation and return with next steps.