An offer of $500,000 for the former East Scranton Intermediate School is reason enough for Lackawanna County Court to deny its proposed sale (as reported HERE & HERE on YW) to a New York City rabbi for $400,000, the rival bidder argues in court papers.
Madison School Properties LLC, a company led by businessman Paul Mansour, is challenging the Scranton School District’s petition to sell the closed Quincy Avenue school to Rabbi Alter Rosenbaum.
A hearing on the petition is scheduled April 23 before Judge Carmen Minora.
Under state law, school districts must receive court approval before disposing of property at a private sale to ensure the price is reasonable and a better offer could not be obtained at a public sale.
In its objection, Madison School Properties said the district’s petition is defective “on its face” since the company’s interest in buying the school for $500,000 “evidences that a higher offer could be obtained at public sale.”
The company said it “has offered and remains willing” to purchase the school for $100,000 more than the district would get under its contract with Rabbi Rosenbaum.
The School Board voted unanimously Aug. 28 to sell East Scranton Intermediate to the rabbi, the leader of a Nadvorna Hasidic community in Brooklyn.
He plans to use the property as a school for families who would relocate to Scranton from Brooklyn.
The board received the $500,000 offer from Madison School Properties a month later.
Mr. Mansour has said he is considering turning the school into apartments or condos.
Attorney Matthew Barrett, who represents Madison School Properties, said the company’s court filing speaks for itself.
“They filed their petition. We filed our objection. The hearing is April 23, and we’ll prepare for the hearing,” he said.
The district’s solicitor, Harry McGrath, said he anticipates filing a response before the hearing.
If the court denies the petition to sell the school to Rabbi Rosenbaum, it is expected the district would then seek sealed bids for the property.
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9 Responses
I am surprised that Nadvorna would be moving to Scranton. This is the first time I heard such a thing. But, there is a lot of vacant property still in Brooklyn in neighborhoods such as Brownsville and East New York though no one would dream of going there. There is also a lot of foreclosures and empty condos which are now being turned into apartments.
it stinks that nadvorna wont gt the property, but the couts have a fiduciary responsibility to the city, and in some states can be held liable for the difference between the higher sale price and what they sold for
A Sefardi not an Arab.
Moshe Fox,
I dont know where your from but just happens to be that there is a very prominent sephardic rabbi with the last name mansour. I thought nadvorna was a drug company or something until i read this and understand they are chassidim.
yochanan
Sounds more like Anti Chasidism/semetism this building I am sure has been available for some time and this bid is just to block the hasidic group from buying.
As for staying in Brooklyn, I guess you neve priced a house in Scranton then. When I looked there myself to move two years ago you were able to buy a nice home for under 125,000. You can’t even buy a dirt lot for that price in NYC, and the taxs for a house in scranton are usualy under a $1,000 Now go find that in NYC.
May now you will realize why many Chasidic groups are looking outside of NY.
I don’t get the problem
yada – you are probably thinking of Novartis
Mansour, Arabic for victorious, is a surname which is found among Muslims and Yoshkeites as well as Jews (like Rabbi Eli Mansour) in Syria and Lebanon.
Moshe Fox
i believe you are close, but no cigar. There is a Rabbinical Monsour Family.
But isn’t The Madison School Properites and the Monsour the one who ran into that $5,000,000 real estate problem that left a Bais Yaakov school without funding, down on the Jersey Shore last year?
If this Deal falls though, I know of another empty school building just waiting for a tenant. And there is skiing just minutes away. All in NY State.