Revived interest in sale of Kingsbury Middle School

Since escrow on Kingsbury Middle School fell through over a year ago, the school has remained vacant and unlisted at an annual cost of $45,000. Now the Douglas County School District is considering putting the property up for sale once again.

The school was closed by Douglas County School District in the 2008-09 school year due to low enrollment at schools at the lake. In 2012, the Board of Trustees placed the 22.4 acre property on the market for $4 million. In 2016, Lake Parkway LLC made an offer of $3.15 million it was accepted by the trustees. Escrow was one year and the sale agreement is contingent upon rezoning of the parcel to residential as well as issuance of TRPA and Douglas County building permits. The group wanted to build affordable housing units at the school site which is located at the back of Lake Village on Echo Drive.

None of that happened and the trustees voted to sever the relationship with the buyer in August, 2016 when payment was not received by the deadline.

The Douglas County School District has retained Johnson and Perkins, the local appraiser who completed a report before the last sale, to prepare a current appraisal which is expected by the end of October. There were two appraisals completed in 2011 prior to the last listing, one by Johnson and Perkins, the other by Leek and Associates. That company declined to update their previous appraisal due to a lack of comparatives and stand by their original evaluation.

The issue may be at the Board's next meeting on November 14 at Lake Tahoe, but the agenda has not yet been set. Superintendent Teri White told the trustees this week that she recommends the school be put back on the market.

There are currently nine different parties interested in either leasing or buying Kingsbury Middle School, including the initial buyer, Lake Parkway LLC, a country store and those with other housing interests.

Jenay Aiksnoras, owner of Lake Tahoe Yoga, is one of those interested in purchasing or leasing the property but has a plan unlike the others. She'd like to put "Tahoe Bliss Retreat" in the old school.

During the Board's October 10 meeting, Aiksnoras encouraged them to look at the community with a dedication to maintaining the beauty of the space, something she'd plan on doing.

"The school has a lot of potential," said Aiksnoras. "I would prefer to reconstruction of the existing building instead of building new."

She told the board that she'd like to work with them as well as the locals to identify changes that would not negatively impact the community, including zoning. She also encourages anyone who'd like to participate in the future of the KMS site to attend Douglas County School Board meetings when it is on the agenda.

Aiksnoras has created a website, www.tahoeretreatcenter.com, for those interested in her idea which is based upon the highly successful retreat center Kripalu, based in Lennox, Massachusetts. The center would offer high quality instruction in physical fitness, mindful practices including yoga, treatment services such as massage and Ayurveda in addition to educational programming for all ages from youth to seniors.

Anyone who wants to hear more about her project can look on line or contact her on her website, or the center's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tahoeblissretreats/.