APS, City Reach Agreement To Transfer Property Deeds
Atlanta Public Schools and Mayor Keisha-Lance Bottoms’ office have reached an agreement to transfer 50 deeds from the city to APS.
Nick Nesmith / WABE
It looks like the Atlanta Public Schools will soon reclaim the rights to some of its own properties. The school district and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ office have reached an agreement to transfer 50 deeds from the city to APS.
Bottoms’ administration submitted an ordinance to the Atlanta City Council Tuesday that would authorize transfer of the deeds “without restriction or condition,” according to a press release.
About two years ago Atlanta Superintendent Meria Carstarphen wanted to sell a vacant property that used to house Adair Park Elementary School. The city holds the deed, and former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed refused to hand it over.
At the time, Reed said he wanted an assurance from the school system that any sale would result in affordable housing developments.
Carstarphen estimated the sale would have meant more than $400,000 for APS.
“Most of them are around [the] $400,000 to $600,000 mark,” Carstarphen said at a May press conference. “But there are others that we want the deeds for that are worth a lot more. On the market, they might be worth $7 million, $10 million.”
Reed’s refusal to relinquish the deeds sparked a tense battle between the city and APS. The school district took the matter to court last year, and received 10 of the deeds.
Some mayoral candidates, including Atlanta’s current mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, campaigned on the issue. Carstarphen asked runoff candidates Mary Norwood and Bottoms if each would commit to Quitclaim the deeds, or turn them over to APS without conditions. Each candidate said she would do so on her first day in office.
For Bottoms, that day has passed. But it looks like she’ll make good on her promise to transfer the deeds. If the council approves the ordinance, it would end an ongoing tug-of-war between the city and school district.
A note of disclosure: The Atlanta Board of Education holds WABE’s broadcast license.
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