Can old Munson Elementary School be flipped into housing?
ZANESVILLE - The old Munson Elementary School is not what it was two decades ago. Since the last day of classes in 2005, windows that once illuminated its 20 classrooms are shattered, leaving broken glass strewn throughout the school's hallways and stairwells. White paint is peeling off the walls in plate-sized pieces to reveal red brick underneath. Math equations and "farewell Munson" messages are still scrawled across the chalkboards, where teachers instructed generations of Zanesville's children over the course of eight decades. The old school holds countless memories, but after sitting vacant for 16 years, it's attracted vandalism and has generally fallen into disrepair. A buyer with a promising refurbishing plan died within a few years of the sale. "And then it sat," said Andy Roberts, executive director of the county's Land Reutilization Program, aka the land bank. "The problem was the property wasnt valued at that much," he said. "The possible reuses are a little bit limited." With little prospect for buyers, the 27,000-square-foot, three-structure school was destined for the wrecking ball. That was until last month when Roberts crunched the numbers and found it's economically feasible  actually economically advantageous  for someone to swoop in and develop the decrepit property for another purpose. Couple that with a citywide housing shortage and an influx of home buyers from the Columbus metro, and county officials think Munson may be the next step. And with some developments already made in the city's aging residential properties, "It is possible," said Matt Schley, Zanesville's community development director. A tough sell on former Zanesville elementary  The property has changed hands several times in 16 years. It has three distinct structures on it, each built decades apart between the 1920s and 1980s. Zanesville City Councilman and Zanesville City Schools assistant superintendent Steve Foreman perviously served as Munson's principal. He understands the desire to refurbish the building into something else, but acknowledged concerns about the structural safety. He recalls leaving the school by having students and teachers place their hands in paint and proudly stamp their handprints on the walls, "because I wanted students to know that the school was theirs. It was a part of them and a reason to be proud. "It led to fewer incidents of vandalism to the building overnight because students wanted to be part of something that they considered to be a 'success story' in the making," he said. City records show Zanesville City Schools sold the property to Luburgh Trucking & Integrity Partners. That company sold it for $100,000 to Zane Learning Center LLC in 2007. The owner, Ohio University professor Quoc-Phong Vu, died shortly after with no known relatives to hand the property to. It's believed he wanted to use the place as an alternative or charter school of some variety. Restrictions on the neighborhood's zoning now leaves only multi-family residential use on the table. That means the old school building will have to be used for housing. Twenty classrooms, 20 loft apartments, with some creative reworking on plumbing to get to each of those 20 units. Peeling paint is assumed to be lead-based, signs of asbestos are present in two of the three structures, and the sheer amount of debris scattered throughout the building is daunting. But one thing matters, Roberts said: the place does have good bones. An inspection in May found the roof and all the walls are sound, with a few minor kinks that can be easily resolved. Estimates show it'd be a lot cheaper to flip the property versus building an entirely new  structure. A major housing shortage in Zanesville compounded with an interest in neighborhoods south of I-70, it's possible someone would want to take on the job. "The problem is, no one can afford to build," Roberts said. "Our market hasn't yet hit the threshold where houses are worth so much that it's cheaper to build. That's where we need to get to." It would cost between $579,000 to $792,000 to to redevelop the building's shell, plus an additional hundred-grand or so to remove asbestos and remediate lead paint. Put simply, it'd be a little under $30 per square foot to refurbish. Current estimates show it can be up to $154 to build a new structure  five times as much. That left a couple options: Try to market it as a possible residential property, or tear the thing down for about the same amount it's worth. So the county decided to fix the windows and roof, and wait for a potential buyer. Why it's possible  It would be a lot cheaper for an apartment developer to flip the place versus building a new one from the ground up, which would be a major undertaking. "It's just going to take the right person to do it," Roberts said. In a normal year, any mention of asbestos would likely scare away potential developers due to a time-intensive, costly hazard remediation process. But this year has been far from normal. Prices on materials like lumber have been skyrocketing since the pandemic began. Very few houses are on the market in Zanesville, with anxious buyers flocking from within the county and other areas due to low interest rates and comparatively inexpensive real estate. Construction started on two apartment buildings on the lower end of Maple Avenue last year. Those buildings are adding 16 housing units to the city, a much-needed boost in a city where both rentals and for-sale homes are in short supply. Mayor Don Mason said his concern about redevelopment on Zanesville's old, abandoned buildings is that it'll become more expensive to refurbish as the building ages. "The most economic time to renovate a building for different use and purpose, is literally when you're closing it," he said. "My concern on some of these buildings that have been closed for over 20 years, is every year it adds costs it'll take to refurbish. "Even though I'd like to see apartments and mixed-use offices, it in fact becomes more expensive as every year goes by." There was a 1.5% housing vacancy rate in Zanesville at the start of 2021. There's been some recent success in flipping old houses. People value the historic architecture and have a desire to fix it up, Schley said. One concentrated area of growth is along Maysville Pike in Putnam. Schley said a great success story is the nearby Tattoo Shop on the corner. It was completely gutted and refurbished for an entirely new purpose. Roberts cites several houses surrounding the old Mosaic Tile Company near the fairgrounds as another success. Auditor's records show houses on that street sold in the tens of thousands, and later sold for $120,000. People with fond memories of the school, like Foreman, hope so. "Staff and students worked hard and played hard," Foreman said. "Munson was the hub of the community it served." ecouch@gannett.com  740-450-6752  Twitter: @couchreporting