From the Jefferson County Board of Education Update, November 15, 2024*
The Board of Education has voted unanimously to approve the contracts for the purchase of the Vivian, Thomson, and Glennon Heights properties. This decision follows the unanimous recommendation from the Property Disposition Advisory Committee (PDAC), which included ad-hoc community members representing each site and district staff. Below are the details:
Glennon Heights
Jacob Academy, a local daycare and early childhood education provider, will relocate one of their campuses to this site. They also plan to reuse the building and site as is.
Thomson
This site is contracted to Evoke Behavioral Health, a provider of services for children and young adults with autism and other behavioral support needs. They will reuse the building and site as is.
Vivian
The property is under contract with Carlson Associates, a local home developer. The plan is to build 30-33 single-family homes and to collaborate with the City of Lakewood to develop a roughly 3-acre park.
What Can Neighbors Expect Next?
Thomson and Glennon Heights
Since these properties will be reused without changes and fall under existing zoning regulations, no further city governmental approvals are needed. The contracts are expected to close in approximately three months, once the buyers complete their due diligence.
Vivian
This property will have a longer timeline for completion as it involves development requiring additional community engagement with the City of Lakewood’s planning department. This includes the platting of home sites and the development of the park. The total entitlement process will take up to 540 days beyond the initial 90-day due diligence period.
(*Note: Post copied in its entirety because the BOE website has not updated at this time to provide full information)
Information provided by Lakewood resident Anthony Farr. Thank you!
Jefferson County School Property Disposition Advisory Committee recommends selling Glennon Heights Elementary to Jacob Academy, a private daycare facility. Jacob Academy hopes to serve 205 children at this location. Lakewood did not offer to buy this for community parkland like it did for Vivian Elementary. Many Lakewood council members feel Ward 4, where Glennon Heights is located, has more than its fair share of parks already. However, the property will utilize the existing school building and space for the new daycare. The final sale approval will be made November 14. There will be no other public involvement.
One developer did not pursue buying the property after discussing the situation with Lakewood. The recommended bid came in under appraised value.
Newly constructed homes near Glennon Heights at West Exposition Ave and South Oak St remain mostly empty, with steady price drops since they were made available for rent in February, 2024. Those units were not available for sale.
The school board briefly discussed whether this daycare would be a direct competitor for state education dollars, since preschool is now a subsidized, guaranteed business model. More research will be presented at the next school board meeting but due to buliding restrictions, such as safety doors, the public schools do not expect to expand preschool at this time.
Glennon Heights sale contract details from school board presentation:
Information provided by Lakewood resident Anthony Farr. Thank you!
Jefferson County School Property Disposition Advisory Committee recommends selling Glennon Heights Elementary to Jacob Academy, a private daycare facility. Jacob Academy hopes to serve 205 children at this location. Lakewood did not offer to buy this for community parkland like it did for Vivian Elementary. Many Lakewood council members feel Ward 4, where Glennon Heights is located, has more than its fair share of parks already. However, the property will utilize the existing school building and space for the new daycare. The final sale approval will be made November 14. There will be no other public involvement.
One developer did not pursue buying the property after discussing the situation with Lakewood. The recommended bid came in under appraised value.
Newly constructed homes near Glennon Heights at West Exposition Ave and South Oak St remain mostly empty, with steady price drops since they were made available for rent in February, 2024. Those units were not available for sale.
The school board briefly discussed whether this daycare would be a direct competitor for state education dollars, since preschool is now a subsidized, guaranteed business model. More research will be presented at the next school board meeting but due to buliding restrictions, such as safety doors, the public schools do not expect to expand preschool at this time.
Glennon Heights sale contract details from school board presentation:
