Center Grove schools is selling land that borders one of its schools to a local developer who has plans to build a new neighborhood.
The school district approved selling 37 acres of land just south of Sugar Grove Elementary school to M/I Homes for $1.2 million.
The land, which is near Curry and Berry roads, is vacant, and school officials recently decided to sell it at auction. Two home developers — M/I Homes and Drees Homes — both put in bids to buy the property. M/I Homes’ bid was the highest at $1.2 million, after Drees Homes, which had offered $1.1 million, according to a memo from the school district.
Members of the Center Grove school board unanimously approved the land sale last week.
Plans for any development are still very early, but the neighborhood would likely include about 70 homes, said Jerrod Klein, division vice president of M/I Homes of Indiana.
The company is working out details, such as floor plans and community features, but is expecting to build single-family homes in the $300,000 price range, Klein said. The Center Grove area continues to be an area in demand from homebuyers due to the schools and proximity to Indianapolis and other attractions, he said.
The property is not large enough for a new middle school and is not where a new elementary school would be needed in the future, said Stacy Conrad, Center Grove schools spokeswoman. Because the school district did not have plans for the property, the best option would be to sell it, she said.
But the money from selling the land could be used toward the purchase of land for a new elementary school in the future, she said.
Exactly when that new school would be needed isn’t yet known. The need would be based on growth in the community, so a new school could be needed in five to 10 years, she said.
Currently, the school district is building its sixth elementary school, Walnut Grove, off Morgantown Road, near County Road 144, which is set to open in 2019 with room for up to 850 students.
