By Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media

The old school buildings sit abandoned, often a blight in the neighborhoods they once served.

No longer welcoming children and parents, the front doors of the empty campuses are now boarded up. Windows are broken or covered with plywood. A playground sits unused; a concrete play area is overgrown with weeds.

But a party of new owners -- including three developers, a hospital and a nonprofit real estate company affiliated with a charter school -- have plans to change that.

Of the 12 Newark public school properties that in 2016 were conveyed to the Newark Housing Authority to sell, 11 are under contract, public records show.

Plans for the old buildings remain largely preliminary but range from charter schools to residential housing. William H. Brown Academy, which burned last year, remains unsold, officials said.

The 11 properties with sale agreements, appraised at a collective $26 million, were sold for $14.4 million, according to an NJ Advance Media review of closing sale contracts and property appraisals.

"The appraisal itself it just a guide. Many variables can depreciate and appreciate the value. When you do an initial appraisal it's based on (the property) as is," Victor Cirilo, executive director of the Newark Housing Authority explained. Cirilo took the job in October and did not oversee the negotiations.

"Once you perform an environmental assessment or physical inspection, that price is affected," Cirilo said. "At the end of the day you're going to sell it to the highest bidder."

Four of the properties have yet to close and three of those are pending approvals from the State Historic Preservation Office, Cirilo added.

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Mary E. Willis School is located at 447 18th Avenue. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Ten of the sold properties were schools, one was a former day care center and another used as an administrative office.

Some of the schools closed to students as early as 2007. Others were closed under former state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson, who shuttered and consolidated campuses with low enrollment and poor performance. The move was among the most far-reaching and controversial during her tenure.

In 2016, the district agreed to jettison 12 properties to help plug a budget deficit. Under an agreement with the Newark Housing Authority, the federally-funded agency agreed to sell the properties through a public bidding process later that year.

"Those schools were located in areas where we were not fully utilizing those buildings anymore, we didn't have the enrollment supported," said Val Wilson, business administrator for the school district. She said the physical conditions of the buildings were also a burden on the district to maintain.

"You've still have to cut the grass, maintain the boiler," she said.

Cirilo said 15 interested parties bid on the properties and a committee of housing authority employees vetted the bids. Cirilo said the housing authority will receive a portion of the revenue from the sales ($100,000 or 6 percent of revenues, whichever is greater).

Assurance Realty Group, a Newark-based broker, also took 3 percent of the sales price as a broker's fee, the sales contracts show. The broker referred comment to the housing authority.

The school district, which still operates 64 schools, has already received $3 million from the sales and expects another $10-11 million in revenue, Wilson said. The district set up a philanthropic fund for the housing authority to maintain the properties and manage the sales.

"Our job was to perform all the professional assessments, put the properties out to bid into the private sector and through public contracts law, sell the asset, close on the asset and extend those revenues," Cirilo said. "We're comfortable that we have served Newark Public Schools well."

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Clinton Avenue Elementary School is located at 534 Clinton Avenue. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Clinton Avenue School

APPRAISED: $2.5 million

SOLD FOR: $1 million

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? Located in the Upper Clinton Hill section of the South Ward, Clinton Avenue Elementary School is slated to remain a school.

Friends of Marion P. Thomas Charter School, a nonprofit real estate company affiliated with Marion P. Thomas Charter School, purchased the property along with two other sites.

Karen Thomas, CEO and Superintendent of the charter school said Clinton Avenue will reopen as a performing arts and culinary elementary school in the fall.

"We're doing some renovations to upgrade the facility and to accommodate a preschool there. There will be a parent center with support services," Thomas said. "We're looking to see what other services we can offer, some health-related services, family services, looking at affordable housing."

The state approved the charter school to expand from 1,430 students to 2,250.

Thomas said she grew up just a few blocks from the school that was built in 1969. And while most of her schools are concentrated in the West Ward, the acquisition of Clinton Avenue will help them forge into the South Ward.

The building will also house Achieve Charter School, which currently co-locates with Marion P. Thomas charter school. Achieve Charter School will continue to rent from the nonprofit real estate company.

Clinton Avenue students were relocated in 2006 and the building shut down in 2014.

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Mary E. Willis School is located at 447 18th Avenue. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Mary E. Wheeler Willis School

APPRAISED: $380,000

SALE PRICE: $750,000

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? A Houston, Texas-based developer is under contract to purchase the two-story vacant building on 18th Avenue in the Central Ward, records show.

Homefood Properties, LLC agreed to purchase the former day care.

Attempts to reach the company through its registered agent were unsuccessful. However, the appraisal report suggested the property's highest and best use was the demolition of the existing building and construction of an apartment building.

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Warren Street School is located at 200 Warren Street. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Warren Street/American History School

APPRAISED: $3.3 million

SOLD FOR: $2.2 million

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? The old Warren Street School that eventually housed American History High School was sold to The Claremont Properties, Inc., a company based in Far Hills.

The appraisal report recommended the 63,771 square-foot property become a low-rise multi-family residential development with 102 units as the most profitable option for the site.

Claremont declined to comment on its plans for the site.

Warren Street closed to students in 2006. American History High moved out in 2010, district officials said. The 100-year-old school in the Central Ward was later used as storage.

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Miller Street School is located at 61-75 Frelinghuysen Ave. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Miller Street School

APPRAISED: $1.58 million

SOLD FOR: $500,000

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? Closed in 2012, Miller Street School was sold to The Claremont Properties, Inc, based in Far Hills. The South Ward property, built in the 1900s, is 64,900 square-feet.

Claremont declined to comment on its plans for the site. The 2016 appraisal report recommends demolition and redevelopment of the property for industrial uses.

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The former Maple Annex at 200 Lyons Ave. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Maple Annex

APPRAISED: $1.26 million

SOLD FOR: $1.3 million

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? Newark Beth Israel Medical Center purchased Maple Annex, a 23,370 square-foot campus built in the early 1900s. Its appraisal report recommended the property's highest and best use was multi-family residential units.

The hospital did not return multiple calls seeking comment.

The school, located in the South Ward, closed in 2015.

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Banneker School on 460 Lyons Ave. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Banneker School

APPRAISED: $1.7 million

SOLD FOR: $325,000

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? Banneker School, which closed in 2011, was sold to BN Property LLC, a branch of the Hanini Group, a sales contract shows.

"This was the highest offer received by the housing authority," Cirilo said, explaining the large gap between the appraisal and sale prices.

A representative with The Hanini Group said plans for the South Ward site were still being developed. The appraisal report recommended the property's highest and best use was as an education facility or a commercial office space.

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Maple Avenue School at 33 Maple Avenue. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Maple Avenue School

APPRAISED: $3.96 million

SOLD FOR: $1.2 million

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? BN Property LLC will also acquire Maple Avenue School. The South Ward school closed in 2015 and sits two blocks from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in a largely residential area.

An official with the Hanini Group said the 59,700 square-foot school would be converted into residential housing with about 50 units that include both market rate and affordable homes. Construction is expected to start in the fall and include a full historical renovation.

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Burnet Street is located at 28 Burnet Street. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Burnet Street School

APPRAISED: $5 million

SALE PRICE: $5.1 million

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? The Friends of Marion P. Thomas Charter School will also take over Burnet Street School. Marion P. Thomas Middle School will relocate to Burnet Street with plans to expand to a full preK through eighth grade school, a spokeswoman said.

Burnet Street School closed as a traditional public school in 2012, according to the district. The Paulo Freire Charter School served students there until 2016, when it was shut down by the state.

The Central Ward property was built in the 1930s.

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Morton Street School at 75 Morton Street. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Morton Street School

APPRAISED: $4.8 million

SALE PRICE: $1 million

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? Morton Street School closed in 2007 and is also under contract by The Friends of Marion P. Thomas Charter School. An official with Marion P. Thomas Charter School, that is affiliated with the real estate company, said there were no definitive plans for the site.

"It was in the worst conditions of all three of those schools," said CEO Karen Thomas. "It's not inhabitable."

The Central Ward school is more than 100 years old. Ceiling tiles are crumbling, areas have sustained water damage and at one point it was occupied by squatters, according to its appraisal report.

The appraisal report recommended the best use for the property was to demolish the existing building and redevelop the site into multi-family residential units.

Cirilo said Friends of Marion P. Thomas Charter School have not yet closed on the sale and requested an extension to do so.

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State Street School is located at 15 State Street. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

State Street

APPRAISED: $640,000

SALE PRICE: $650,000

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? State Street School closed in 2012 to students, later serving as an administrative office. The office shut down in 2015, district officials said.

A representative for The Hanini Group, which is acquiring the site, said there were no firm plans for the property.

The Central Ward school was built in 1906 and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. It's 2016 appraisal recommended use as a residential facility.

The Hanini Group is waiting for historical approval from the state to close on the property.

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Roseville Avenue School is located at 70 Roseville Avenue. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Roseville Avenue

APPRAISED: $970,000

SOLD FOR: $375,000

WHAT WILL IT BECOME? Roseville Avenue School, which borders Bloomfield and East Orange, shuttered in 2014.

The Central Ward campus was also sold to BN Properties LLC. A representative with The Hanini Group, the parent company for BN Properties, said the company was exploring office or residential use for the site.

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William H. Brown Jr. Academy located at 695 Bergen Street. (Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

William H. Brown Academy

A three-alarm fire ripped through the abandoned school in the South Ward last March destroying the building's roof. The property remains the only one without a prospective buyer.

The 81,480 square-foot property was appraised at $5.1 million prior to the blaze. The firm that conducted the appraisal recommended the building remain an educational-type facility or convert into a high-density residential building. The school closed in 2009, according to the school district.

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[Editor's note: This story was updated on March 28, 2018 to reflect changes in what the owners wanted to do with the building that were made after the article published.]

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.

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