Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009

Wake school site is bargain

The North Raleigh purchase for $2.5 million must get the county's approval.

One developer's misfortune could turn out to be the Wake County school system's gain, resulting in a new elementary school in northwest Raleigh.

Last week, the Wake school board agreed to pay $2.54 million for almost 31 acres at Strickland and Baileywick roads, or $82,500 an acre.

The land, now owned by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., became available after the recession killed plans to build a high-end residential subdivision there.

"It was a good bargain," said Don Haydon, the school system's chief facilities and operations officer.

Pending the Wake County commissioners' approval of the land purchase, the school system would build the school sometime in the next few years. Funding would come from a future school construction bond issue.

The new property replaces a tract at the northwest corner of Creedmoor and Shooting Club roads, north of Raleigh and deep in Falls Lake's watershed. The school board had agreed to buy the Shooting Club Road parcel in January but terminated the contract in September over concerns about its potential to pollute Raleigh's water supply.

Raleigh leaders had opposed the Shooting Club Road site. They were concerned that the city would have been asked to extend costly water and sewer service to the school if private systems failed.

The new property is also in the Falls Lake watershed, but barely. City water already runs to the site, and municipal sewer service is available nearby.

"It's not a site that we would have a problem with," Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen said.

Haydon said school officials found the new location while looking for alternatives to the Shooting Club property.

A group of real-estate investors formed Dunhill LLC and paid nearly $4 million for the land in December 2006 to build a subdivision of at least 26 units. Home prices in Dunhill would have ranged from $850,000 to $1.4 million.

But last year, after Dunhill defaulted on a $4.5 million loan. Utah-based MagnetBank foreclosed on the property. The FDIC took over MagnetBank after it failed in January.

School board member Patti Head said the property's location is especially good for Wake's purposes. She said it will allow Wake to build a middle school instead of an elementary school on property it bought at Leesville Church Road.

"I'm really excited about this property," Head said. "It's a great location. It's what the Leesville area needs."

News researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.