'Unbelievable views': Duluth Central High to be sold for $7.4M

DULUTH – The former Duluth Central High School, which last graduated a class in 2011, is finally set to be sold for $7.4 million, about half its original asking price from a decade ago.

St. Louis Park's Saturday Properties, operating as Saturday Central Heights, entered into a purchasing agreement Tuesday for the front 55 acres of 800 E. Central Entrance. It's the same developer that in October agreed to purchase Historic Old Central High School, the 129-year-old former high school that has been school district offices and alternative education classrooms in recent years, for $3 million.

"Ultimately, what attracted us to this is the location at the top of the hill," said Saturday Properties development director Mark Laverty. "The views are unbelievable."

The school board approved a purchase agreement Tuesday night during a special meeting.

"It's an exciting opportunity for the Duluth school district and the city as a whole," Superintendent John Magas said. "I know the property on the hill has huge sentimental and emotional value to many of the citizens of Duluth. … [The agreement] allows us to put additional resources toward serving our students and families."

The centrally-located school, famous for its sweeping views of Lake Superior, was a victim of the district's long-range facilities plan, known as the Red Plan, which was passed in 2007 and downsized schools and replaced decaying buildings. It has long been a burden to district officials, school board members and frustrated citizens desperate for it to sell.

The sale of the nearly 50-year-old school was touted as a way to help pay for the Red Plan, the cost of which has ballooned to $315 million.

The school was initially on the market for $13.7 million and a $10 million deal with Chicago-based Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors fell through in 2015. Harbor Bay, the company that developed the Endi complex on London Road, cited high development costs associated with the rocky, marshy landscape, which has deterred other serious buyers, according to broker Greg Follmer, who has marketed the property for the district since 2018. It was most recently for $7.9 million.

In 2016, the K-8 Duluth Edison Charter Schools offered the district $14.2 million to turn Central into its own high school.

The Duluth school board, which has a policy not to sell properties to competitors, voted against waiving that policy out of concerns it would lead to a perpetual stream of students leaving the district, taking enrollment money with them.

The city, already divided by emotional school closures prompted by the Red Plan — like that of Central — and the inability to vote on that project, was further divided.

Many wanted to offload the property to end the maintenance cost drain or to give students more school choice, while others cheered the move, decrying the need for yet another high school in a city where enrollment continues to decline.

After the Tuesday vote, Board Member Rosie Loeffler-Kemp who was serving her first term at that time, said the project will complement the district's own reuse of the property.

"We always knew it was an incredible piece of property and it was important that the sale of it happened with a developer we have confidence in," she said. "The repurposing of it will be of great benefit to the community as a whole."

The district is building administrative offices on the back section of the property to replace its space in Historic Old Central.

The developer will build a mix of housing units with various densities on the property in several phases, and potentially a destination brewery or restaurant in the old vocational building near the front of the site. Much of the hillside property isn't buildable. Laverty said he respects the school's place in the city's past, and just as the company is doing with Historic Old Central, is looking to incorporate Central Trojan history into the new buildings.

"I think it's a fantastic coincidence we will be involved in both former Central sites," he said. "We are extremely excited for another opportunity to provide housing options for folks who live in Duluth or who want to move to Duluth."

The school will be torn down. The district has permission from the Legislature to levy for those costs. That was factored into the purchase price, Laverty said.