Vacant I.J. Samson school valued at $2M, sells for $189K

A vacant St. John's school that sold for $189,000 last month had an assessed value of over $2 million, CBC News has learned.

The English School District sold the former I.J. Samson Junior High for 9.4 per cent of its appraised value, after one month on the market, according to documents obtained under access to information. 

• I.J. Samson school sold for $189K, new owners eye housing development

The school district says bids on the school were low because the property had issues — including asbestos, lead paint and hydrocarbons in the ground — not factored into the 2013 appraisal for $2.01 million.

"It obviously diminishes what someone would offer for the property," said Terry Hall, assistant director of education with the English School District.

"All are extremely expensive when you have to follow legislation to do cleanup and abatement."

$400,000 to fix up

The school's new owner, Terrence Penney, estimates it will take $400,000 to deal with all of I.J. Samson's problems.

Penney's company, Metro Environmental Services, specializes in remediation, so he said they would be able to clean up the former school for less than other developers.

"You'd never get two million dollars for this building, not on a private sale, not with all the environmental issues," said Penney.

"That would never happen."

Land was 'given away': Gerry Rogers

But the selling price shocked NDP MHA Gerry Rogers, who said she's "appalled" by the "bargain basement" sale.

"It's like a fire sale. It reminds me of someone who's so desperate they're selling the family jewels for 10 bucks for a hit," she said.

"It was given away."

Rogers said she's spoken to developers who would have purchased I.J. Samson for more than a million dollars, but didn't know it was on the market.

She said the property includes valuable land that could have been used to build more affordable housing.

As the federal government develops a national housing strategy, the province "could have brought this land to the table," said Rogers.

"It's almost a knee-jerk, panic reaction by government. These are public assets that belong to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and they are being squandered."

Tender open for a month

The tender for the school was open for the month of September 2015, and the sale closed this June.

There were three bids on the property, ranging from $85,000 to $189,000.

Hall said the school district likes to get rid of vacant properties as quickly as they can. 

"We find the longer it sits there when we don't have a purpose for it sometimes the harder it is to sell or it diminishes the value even more," he said.

Other schools up for sale soon

Hall said this sale has generated interest from other potential buyers, and he's hopeful for other vacant schools hitting the market soon.

The former Booth Memorial High School, Bishops College, and MacPherson Elementary are going up for sale this fall.

Rogers is worried that the school district will sell their other vacant schools for similarly low prices.

'Will they also be sold for next to nothing, basically be given away?

Penney, meanwhile, plans to build a housing development on the I.J. Samson land.

He said his engineering team is currently looking at whether they'll be able to redevelop the building, or if they'll have to demolish it.