School District 43 is just weeks away from adding $25.1 million to its capital reserve fund for new schools and upgrades after passing a bylaw Tuesday night approving the sale of the former Coronation Park elementary school site to a developer.
After agreeing to a disposal of property bylaw, school officials are next expected to enter into a purchase agreement for the the 8.2 acres with Polygon Pacific Homes with the deal to close by Jan. 12, 2016.
Board chair Judy Shirra said the money will be used for schools, including a rebuild for Sir Frederick Banting middle school, and for district needs, such as boiler replacements.
"This money will be topping up our capital project [fund]," Shirra said.
The sale amount was acknowledged to be "fair market value" for the property by an independent appraiser and the funds will be used to build other schools in the district, according to SD43.
"We were able to write [a deal for] a project that will allow us to move forward with a lot of people willing to pay market price," Shirra said.
The former Coronation Park elementary land is located in Coquitlam but right next to the Port Moody border and within walking distance of the Inlet Centre Evergreen Line station. As many as 400 to 600 homes, plus park space, could be built there, according to the district’s request for offers. But it would be up to the developer to get the property rezoned and provide roads and servicing to support the development.
Selling the property to Polygon ends a lengthy process that began in 2013 with public meetings through the district's Learning, Lands and Neighbourhoods initiative.
In all, 17 request for offers packages were distributed and nine developers attended a voluntary site meeting. The district settled on Polygon, which provided the highest offer and is agreeing to take the property, located at 135 Balmoral Drive, Coquitlam, "as is."
The sale comes as the district reached a deal with the province to contribute $2.9 million towards the construction of Smiling Creek elementary school on Burke Mountain, as well as $4.8 million towards land costs, for the total construction costs of $17.6 million.
Shirra said the province expects school districts to contribute toward school capital projects. "The ministry had to see we were serious in selling that."
