Saving surplus school property from developers

Residents who live near Webster Park are being reassured by city officials that they intend to buy the property from the Seattle School District to keep it out of the hands of developers. The land next to the Nordic Heritage Museum was recently assessed at $1.6 million, substantially above the $1 million Mayor Greg Nickels got in the 2008 budget.

In the Seattle PI: “Fear not; we’ll negotiate a deal with the district,” said Donald Harris, manager of property and acquisitions for the Department of Parks and Recreation, on Tuesday.

In related surplus news, the Seattle Public School District is holding a public hearing at 7:30 p.m., Thursday in the Allen School Building, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., to discuss the fate of the two surplus school buildings there. You might better know them as the home of the Phinney Neighborhood Association. The PNA, which has been leasing the historic buildings, is negotiating to buy them as part of a multi-million dollar capital campaign.

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