School district seeks real estate knowledge

The Manatee County School District is in need of some commercial real estate knowledge, right as the school year begins for students.

The district plans to list at least five properties for sale in an attempt to consolidate facilities and, hopefully, bring in some extra funds. “We have a lot of property,” says School District Executive Planner Mike Pendley, “but we have some sites we just don't use.”

Pendley and district spokeswoman Margi Baskerville Nanney say the district will now go to school: Pendley will reach out to local commercial real estate brokers, both for appraisal research and to list the properties for sale.

“I don't want to do it in-house,” Pendley tells Coffee Talk. “We can't get the exposure we need that way. We're not set up to market properties.”

The list of properties for sale includes a 7.5-acre lot on 26th Avenue West; a 1.7-acre property in Ellenton, in north Manatee County, that used to be an elementary school; and a 1.49-acre lot and office building on First Street West and Manatee Avenue in Bradenton.

The First Street property, a former Checkers restaurant, was recently placed under a sale agreement. A group of local investors agreed to pay $2.2 million for the site.

But the school board squashed the deal in an Aug. 22 meeting. Board members expressed concern that the commission, $400,000 on a $2.2 million sale, was excessive, says Nanney. So School Superintendent Tim McGonegal pulled the item off the agenda before the meeting.