Developer buys 2 former Freeport school buildings
FREEPORT — The Freeport Junior High and Freeport Kindergarten Center buildings have been sold to an Armstrong County developer with plans to turn them into medical office and day care space and housing.
Ronald Mailki will buy the buildings, according to Freeport School Board President Dan Lucovich.
It was the culmination of a months-long process that began when Mailki, an industrial and commercial developer, talked with board members with an offer Lucovich called “the best opportunity we could ever hope for.”
The board voted Tuesday night for the sale.
The buildings, which were appraised at $164,000, were sold to Mailki for $175,000. The properties are designated Keystone Opportunity Zones, which allows school districts, counties and municipalities to offer tax breaks to developers.
Mailki said he plans to convert the former kindergarten center into a day care center and also carve out space in the building for professional or medical offices.
At the former junior high building, Mailki plans to keep the auditorium, gym and cafeteria available as rental spaces, turn several classrooms into training rooms for rent, and eventually convert about half of the building into “upper end” townhouses.
Pennsylvania's public school code requires that the sale be approved by the Armstrong County Common Pleas Court, and there was no immediate indication of how long that would take.
But Mailki said Freeport residents can expect to see work on the structures begin as soon as it's legally allowed.
“I'm looking at a project completion date of two years,” Mailki said of the construction timeline he's working with.
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