Salvation Army Offers to Purchase School District's Chapman Lot

The Salvation Army is interested in purchasing a valuable piece of Greenfield real estate owned by the Greenfield School District and considered by some as a key component to the city’s economic growth.

The Salvation Army wants to renovate and use the former Chapman school and administrative office facility currently on the property for a core community center, church and recreational purposes.

Financial terms of the offer, received by the district April 4, were not publically discussed at a School Board meeting Monday.

Interim business manager Ronald Nortier said he has also had discussions with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which has expressed interest in the land and encouraged Board members to decide how they want to proceed with the valuable asset.

“If you are truly interested in selling the property, would you be interested in finding a commercial real estate agent that would be market it, or leave things status quo and if we get an offer we’ll bring it to you and let you consider that on an individual basis?” Nortier said.

The Chapman property was home to the Greenfield School District’s administration offices from 1990 to early 2010, before the district approved a $1.9 million addition of central offices to the new high school renovation project. Prior to becoming an administration building, Chapman was a school for more than two decades.

Interim Superintendent David Ewald said it costs the district approximately $5,000 per year to maintain the Chapman site, located at 8500 W. Chapman, just north of Layton Avenue and west of 84th Street, in immediate proximity to the I-894 on/off ramps and just minutes away from the 76th Street corridor.

The 9.7-acre piece of land owned by the district is adjacent to approximately 10 acres of available real estate directly to the west.

Board president Bruce Bailey called the land and old school an eyesore and said he’s been in favor of selling the property for years. He said hiring a real estate firm to market it would be his choice.

“We can’t sit and pretend it’s not there like we have done in the past,” Bailey said.

Board member Cathy Walsh said the building is a liability and an accident waiting to happen. She said the real estate market appears headed in the right direction, making it a good time to sell.

Board member Len Cich disagreed.

“I think our best effort is to sit on it because the market is still making a turn and it’s got a ways to go,” he said. “The building can’t really deteriorate any more than it has. … It’s costing us nothing. That’s why I think we should wait.”

Because it is zoned institutional and exempt from taxes, there is no city assessment value attached to the Chapman lot. In 2009, however, the district agreed to sell the lot for $6.1 million to Menomonee Falls-based Continental Properties, which was interested in partnering with neighboring Steinhafels to do a larger scale re-development of the area.

Continental Properties, however, backed out before finalizing the agreement with the school district.

A church or community center, as proposed by the Salvation Army, would be tax exempt and keep the property off the city’s tax roll. That would not sit well with Cich.

“I think it should be sold to somebody who will benefit the taxpayers by paying taxes and not a tax-free organization,” Cich said.

The Greenfield fire and police departments occasionally use the Chapman building as a training facility. Mayor Michael Neitzke has often referred to the Chapman area as one of the city’s key development areas.

The Board will discuss the offer in closed session at its next meeting slated for April 29.