The Gwinnett County school system will soon claim ownership of the imposing Suwanee building that serves as its headquarters — again.
The school board voted Thursday night to pay $52,038,916 to regain title to the sprawling headquarters that sits atop a hill in a Suwanee office park.
The district bought the property in 2004 for $12.5 million —- nearly double what the former owners had paid one year earlier. The district then sold the land a year later to private investors for $17 million.
The investment group converted the former manufacturing plant into a headquarters for the school system and has been leasing it to the system since then. To date, the lease agreement — which district officials say was a smart move at the time — has cost taxpayers $300,000 a month or $26 million total, based on school system records.
The unusual sale and lease-buyback agreement — ultimately costing taxpayers about $73 million — were among a series of school land deals scrutinized by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2011. Among the newspaper’s findings was that the lease arrangement cost Gwinnett taxpayers about $34 million more than if the school district had simply held onto the building in 2005 and paid for the renovations with cash on hand.
District officials defended the decision in 2011 and said again Thursday they still believe it made good sense.
By selling the property and leasing it back, the district was able to free up enough money to build two schools and part of another at a time when the school district was experiencing rapid enrollment growth and in dire need of more classrooms, said Sloan Roach, school system spokeswoman.
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