Ceremonial Check
Libby School Board chair Teri Kelly smiles as she accepts a ceremonial check from Scott Curry (left) and Eric Berry of Libby Lofts LLC.
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Transaction closes in sale of old school to developer
90-year old Libby school building last occupied in 2001
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
April 16, 2008
After sitting vacant for more than seven years, the old school building at the corner of Mineral Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard is no longer the property of Libby School District.
The transaction closed last Wednesday with Eric Berry and Scott Curry of Libby Lofts LLC presenting the school district with payment for half the $150,000 selling price, minus the 7 percent “earnest money” paid at the initiation of a buy-sell agreement last fall. Libby Lofts will have one year to pay the district the remainder of the purchase price; the property will be held in escrow in the meantime.
“It’s good to get it done and know we’re going in a positive direction with use of the building and it’s not just going to sit there vacant anymore,” said school board chair Teri Kelly, who has been dealing with the old school issue for most of her 8½ years on the board.
The building was last occupied in 2001 by the Lincoln County Campus of Flathead Valley Community College. At various times over the years, the school board moved toward demolition of the 90-year-old structure while also considering several offers to sell the property.
A Spokane firm, ConoverBond Development, maintained discussions with the district for more than a year before dropping out of the project in early 2007, citing what it perceived as lack of support from school, city and county officials.
Berry, who recently completed renovation of a building formerly used as hospital and courthouse in Kalispell, approached the school board with his proposal last summer. He offered to pay the district’s asking price of $150,000, which was set following an appraisal commissioned by ConoverBond that valued the property at $240,000 minus demolition costs of $120,000 for an “as is” value of $120,000.
Berry’s plans are based on his “Eastside Brick” project in Kalispell and include a mix of high-end condominiums, commercial offices and living and working space for artists. A restaurant/coffee house is also planned for the building.
Berry signed a lease agreement last fall, and demolition work inside the building has been ongoing as the sale moved toward closing. Demolition is expected to be complete within the next couple of weeks, and asbestos abatement has begun, Curry said. The next step will be to begin installing new heating, plumbing and electrical components with full construction to begin in early May, he said. Cleaning and restoration of the building’s exterior brickwork will start as soon as weather permits, he said.
The project is anticipated to take about 18 months to complete. Residential units may be ready by the end of 2008, Curry said. Five of the nine upstairs residential units and one of the five downstairs units are already spoken for, Curry said.
Closing was initially scheduled for early January, but the school board granted an extension after determining that work was moving ahead on the project. A lot was being accomplished “behind the scenes,” Berry said, but he acknowledged that the closing will be seen as an important milestone by many.
“It’s a positive thing for us, as well as the community, to have this finalized,” he said.
Photo by Kootenai Valley Record
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Editor’s Note: See the April 14, 2008 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Monday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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