Solomon Schechter Lease Continues to be Questioned

Mineola School Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler took time out to address a resident’s concerns over the for last Wednesday during a budget workshop session at the .

The resident had been in contact with Dr. Nagler through e-mail, submitting various questions concerning the square footage of and comparing it to Cross Street, as well as the appraised values, among other points.

The proposed lease has a received more than its share of scrutiny and criticism, with many residents upset about the possibility of loss of use of the fields and not receiving what they perceive to be the fair market value for the building in the proposed lease.

As it currently stands, the proposed lease with Solomon Schechter will bring in $1.1 million over the 5 year period. Solomon Schechter is paying for all utility costs, yielding about $200,000 in net revenue to the school district each year.

It has been reported that the Glen Cove-based school was paying $400,000 in rent per year for a former Coles School as its location. That lease was signed 12 years ago “with a very different real estate market in 1999,” Dr. Nagler said, pointing out that the base rent lower and was over time increased to $400,000.

Solomon Schechter was reportedly released from its agreement due to a requirement on the part of Glen Cove who failed to build a library on the adjacent lot. Dr. Nagler said that because of the anticipated construction, the rent was “frontloaded” and Glen Cove “was supposed to purchase the adjacent property and build a library which they did not... there was an out.”

The superintendent added that if the Mineola lease were compounded by the same percentages for 12 years, “our price per square foot would be a lot more.”

The building in Glen Cove is approximately 50,000 sq. ft.

The private religious school is reportedly facing declining enrollment as well and looking to downsize. 

“They’re not looking to spend the same amount of money,” Nagler said.

Another caveat for the Glen Cove property is that Solomon Schechter had “exclusive rights to the land,” allowing them to build extensions, such as a new gymnasium. A Google Earth image of the location in the resident’s letter shows a number of doublewide portable trailers reportedly outfitted with classrooms on the property as well.

Also in the letter, it was reported that Cross Street had an assessment value of $15 million compared to $8 million for the Glen Cove property.

Nagler said that the figure was fair market value for the purchase of the property, not rental.

“I think the assessment comes in if you’re going to sell,” he said, pointing out that he did not know who assessed the property. “It’s a matter of does the board want to rent this property or take a chance that its vacant?”

The superintendent reported that he knew of four school buildings for rent in Nassau, two of which would be Cross Street and the Glen Cove building. He reportedly contacted two “major” real estate firms to broker a deal for a renter, but there were no takers except for Solomon Schechter.

A private school had expressed interest in renting Meadow, and Dr. Nagler said he is hoping to shop Willis Avenue to them. However the group in question requires a substantial amount of parking, which is problematic at the school even with the lease of the adjacent church lot.

“They want more than that,” Nagler said. The group reportedly is looking for a property with 100 parking spaces.