About that Second Mile Development Inc./Terry Heights Elementary School deal

West Huntsville Elementary: Appraised for $900,000. Buildings: 45,460 sq. ft. ($19.80 per square foot). Land: 5.42 acres ($166,052 per acre).

For the record, I am not saying the Second Mile Development Inc. in Huntsville, AL is associated or affiliated with the Second Mile Charity (sic) in Pennsylvania. Nor do I have anything personal against the Board of Directors/employees/clients of Second Mile Development, Inc. Again;

I'm just saying if Terry Heights is turned into an after school center it should be a public endeavor, under public control and accountable to the people, not a board of directors. After all, it's our money.

Speaking of our money, let's go inside the offer Second Mile Development, Inc made to the Huntsville City School Board to purchase Terry Heights Elementary School.

Bill McDowell, executive director of Second Mile Development, confirmed Tuesday that the Christian nonprofit has made an offer for the 48,000-square-foot building.
"We're excited about our offer," McDowell said. "We'll be scared and excited if they accept it."
The district seemed to have accepted the offer last week, when approval of the $575,000 contract was placed on the school board's meeting agenda. But the contract was pulled before the meeting.

I wonder if the reason it was pulled before the meeting is because they are not actually offering $575,000 for the 48,000 square foot building and the land it's sitting on.

The contract, as written last week, included a payment of $200,000 upon closing and five years of in-kind services that Second Mile would provide to five of the district's schools.
The services, valued in the contract at $75,000 a year, would be provided at Ridgecrest, McDonnell, Morris and University Place elementaries and Westlawn Middle.

So, Second Mile Development, Inc. is actually paying $200,000 for the 48,000 square foot building and the land it's sitting on. Not a bad deal for Second Mile Development, Inc. but it's stinking deal for we the taxpayers.

Has the property been appraised?If so what is the appraised value? Surely it's more than $575,000 in light of the fact the Downtown Rescue Mission appraised for 3.9 million and nearby West Huntsville, Elementary appraised for $900,000.

Gene Garrett, a private real estate appraiser, valued the newly abandoned West Huntsville Elementary at just $900,000. Four short blocks up Ninth Avenue from the former mission, West Huntsville has less interior space but more land.
"It's a good building," said school board President Doug Martinson Jr., referring to West Huntsville. "Certainly if the rescue mission is worth $3.9 million, then ours should be worth more or closer to it."
"It continues to cause me concern," Russell said this week. "It looks bad that we paid so much."
But Kling, who had long complained of crime near the mission, said that the neighborhood is much improved and that Russell is out of line.

Something is "out of line" all right.