W. Granville School up for sale at land auction this month

Sept. 15, 2022 | Peter Currier
pcurrier@thereminder.com

GRANVILLE – The former West Granville School is one of seven parcels in Granville that can be bought at a public auction Sept. 21 at noon at Town Hall.

Auctioneers from Zekos Group will be leading the sale of the seven properties. West Granville School is the only one with a structure on it.

The West Granville School, at 13 Beech Hill Rd., has been closed since 1989, and since then it has been the subject of multiple Town Meeting votes to demolish the building or sell the property. Town Administrator Matt Streeter said the most recent attempt to deal with the property was when a request for proposals was issued in 2018, but received no responses.

The other six properties are 21.8 acres of vacant land at 574 South Lane; two separate vacant parcels of 2.1 acres each on North Lane; 1.17 acres of vacant land on Barnard Road; 43,560 square feet of vacant land on Crest Lane; and 41,750 square feet of vacant land on Beech Hill Road. Streeter said these properties were taken by the foreclosure process before at least 2015. Of the six, he said the only one where it would not be suitable to construct a building is 574 South Lane.

A $5,000 deposit is required to register to bid on each individual parcel, and an additional $5,000 deposit will be due within 24 hours of the auction. Zekos Group will receive a 10 percent premium on top of each bid, meaning that if the property is declared sold to a bidder at $10,000, the buyer actually owes $11,000. The buyer would also be responsible for paying any fees related to the deed transfer.

Street said the original West Granville School structure is partially structurally sound, though parts of the floor have caved in, and the roof of the addition constructed in the 1960s has also caved in. Because the property is zoned as Agricultural-Residential, Streeter said the parcel would not be able to house a business, and would probably be best suited for a house or apartment building.

There will be an open house at the school on the morning of the auction, though access to the interior will be limited due to safety concerns throughout the structure.

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