George Hawthorne has notified Superintendent of Schools Malcolm Thomas that his company will not be able to complete its purchased of the closed middle school. His purchase was contingent on Habitat for Humanity agreeing to purchase a portion of the land. Habitat has decided not to do, forcing Hawthorne to withdraw his offer.
In his letter to Thomas, Hawthorne urges the superintendent to reconsider the last proposal made by Friendship Missionary Baptist Church:
Dear Malcolm,
I have been informed that Habitat for Humanity will not be able to proceed with its purchase of the Brownsville Middle School surplus land that I had intended to sell in conjunction with my offer to purchase. As I have said before, this sell of property to Habitat was the basis for me to obtain a financing commitment to acquire the school from the School District.
Accordingly, I am withdrawing my offer to purchase the Brownsville Middle School. However, I hope that the School District would consider the last offer from Friendship Missionary Baptist Church and enter into discussions to sell the property with Rev. Lutimothy May.
I still believe that this is a critical property to help the revitalization of the Brownsville community and Rev. May is the best person to lead this revitalization effort. I feel that Rev. May’s vision for the property and my were the same and I will work with him to provide any assistance that he may desire to purchase this property along with the plans and resources that I had secured under my attempt to acquire this property.
The reality of the real estate market for this property and other vacant schools is very limited and these type of properties need to be returned to community uses based upon a “public good.” These properties have already been paid for by taxpayers and they need to be returned to uses that benefit the taxpayers that have paid for them.
I hope that you would consider entering into negotiations with Rev. May in order for his church to provide community uses that benefit the Brownsville community. I wish you and the School District all of the best and I regret that I was unable to acquire this property for community facilities.
Thank You,
George Hawthorne
Chief Executive Officer
Diversity Program Advisors, Inc.
251-504-7313 Cell