MACON, Ga. — Two old Bibb school properties will soon be home to a new group of people: renters.
This week, the school district agreed to sell Jessie Rice Elementary and Neel Academy to a development group. Both schools have been closed for years, with the school district left to pick up the tab for maintenance. Now, they have a new chance to get both schools off the rolls and add some money to the district's pocket.
"We had a developer reach out to us, send us a letter of intent, wanting to buy both properties," explained Sam Kitchens, the executive director of capital improvement for the district. "[They want to] construct some single- and multi-family housing project."
It's a tale of two schools, both closed, with a chance for new life. Turning schools into housing may seem like a strange concept, but Kitchens says Griffin-based Next Step Capital has the experience. That's the company buying the two buildings. It's a subsidiary to Texas-based Next Step Homes.
"One of the components that really interested us was the safe communities component of it, which basically means that they will intentionally provide the level of security needed," Kitchens said.
That could mean gated access, 24/7 security, cameras, or a combination of those protections. Kitchens says that helps improve security in the surrounding areas.
"Gives us an opportunity to have a workforce that can not only work in Bibb, but also live in Bibb," he added.
That's not the only land they sold this week. They also sold some land from Sonny Carter Elementary School to the Chick-fil-A on Zebulon Road to improve traffic.
"Basically, double-loop the drive-throughs so they can get more cars on the property and off the streets," Kitchens said.
Kitchens says he hasn't seen any concrete designs just yet, but that Next Step plans to incorporate as much of the old school buildings as possible in the new blueprints.
Next step will pay the school board $90,000 for Neel Academy, and $370,000 for Jessie Rice Elementary, according to reporting by our partners at Mercer's Center for Collaborative Journalism.
Chick-fil-A will pay more for just 0.75 acres than Next Step will pay for both schools combined: $750,000.