What if you were stuck with a property no one wants? Rapides School Board mulls options

Imagine having a property, using your resources to maintain it, but not being able to sell it without turning the proceeds over to someone else.

The Rapides Parish School Board is living that scenario with an unused and rundown former Head Start site tucked away on an Alexandria side street.

On July 2, the board voted unanimously to take all necessary steps to either sell or dispose of the property on Windsor Place, the site of a former nursing home turned Head Start site that sits between Heyman Lane and Parliament Drive.

What to do with the property — and just how to do it — has been discussed by the board multiple times. Two previous attempts to unload the property have failed.

The property was taken over by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development years ago, but was absorbed by the district when it was awarded the contract to operate Head Start programs in the parish.

The district hasn't used it. In fact, part of it was torn down before the district was awarded the Head Start grant.

They can't even give it away, apparently.

"We basically said, 'We're doing all the work trying to sell this property, and we're maintaining it,'" Finance Director Liz Domite told members during a committee meeting in July 2023. "Can we just give it back to HUD, sign whatever we need to do, give it back to HUD and let it be HUD's issue?

"And they wouldn't accept it back."

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Even if the district does sell it, any proceeds from the sale likely would have to go to HUD, she said.

Domite said the property can be put out for bid again, but the potential buyer must offer a certain percentage of the appraisal, like 75%, before it is accepted. She wasn't hopeful that will happen.

And, she said, HUD officials were "disappointed" in the appraisal.

The district "is kinda between a rock and a hard place with this piece of property," said Superintendent Jeff Powell during that same committee meeting.

He said the previous Head Start grantee tore down a building that had been there and erected a metal building. But they didn't put a floor in the building, so it's just dirt inside.

If a viable bid is offered, HUD still has to vet the buyer, she told board members.

Domite asked the board for more guidance on just what to do. Discussions with HUD since last summer weren't fruitful, and state Rep. Mike Johnson, the board's legal counsel, said at that time it's almost like the issue gets passed between different HUD officials.

That conversation happened a year ago, and the district still is trying to resolve the issue. It was brought up again at the board's regular July 2 meeting.

Johnson said he thought it could be resolved, but he wanted to confirm with the Louisiana Attorney General's Office before proceeding because "it's an unusual circumstance."

It's a problem waiting to happen, he said.

Powell gave those at the meeting a quick update, reminding them the district became heirs to the property when it took over as the Head Start provider. Because of that, HUD still has interest in the property that requires more steps before they can sell it.

"We have been engaged in this process for, probably, close to two years with them in trying to figure out how to dispose of this particular property," he said.

Meanwhile, the district is paying to maintain the site and has had to deal with homeless squatters at times, he said.

Powell said his administration's recommendation is to do whatever it takes to "get it off the books," adding that's what Head Start wants as well. He repeated that HUD has "initial interest" in any proceeds from a sale, minus the district's costs, "so there's a pretty good chance that there will be nothing to go back to our local Head Start funds.

"Any proceeds will more than likely be going back to HUD."