Firm buys 3 closed Bucks schools for $800K, plans senior housing

A construction company scooped up three shuttered Bucks County elementary schools for a total of $770,000 and a nonprofit bought a fourth for $180,000 with plans to convert the Bristol Township properties into age-restricted housing, according to a report.

The Bristol Township School District began marketing the four elementary schools more than a year ago, according to the Bucks County Courier Times, which said the schools' locations on neighborhood street, instead of major thoroughfares, led to more restrictions on the properties' future uses.

Zoned residential, all four schools can be converted into age-restricted housing – or properties that cater to residents over 55 and do not permit children to live there.

Renovah Construction Co. spent $210,000 on John Fitch Elementary School on Greenbrook Drive; $350,000 on Lafayette Elementary School on Fayette Drive; and another $210,000 on Abraham Lincoln Elementary School on Plumtree Place, the suburban newspaper said.

A fourth school Maple Shade Elementary School on Prospect Avenue sold to nonprofit Interfaith Housing Visions of Bristol Borough for $180,000, the Bucks County Courier Times said.

Craig Bowen, president of the Bristol Township Council, which will eventually review and consider approval of the age-restricted developments, said he believed the plans will be looked on favorably by the council.

"It's good because it will bring in additional revenue (property and earned income taxes from occupants) for the school district, township and county while not placing an additional burden on the schools by adding more children," he said.

The sales must be approved by Bucks County Court, a process that could take several weeks, and the dollars would go to the township's general fund.

 

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal