OCEANSIDE — The school board recently agreed to sell the remaining 8.2 acres of the former Garrison Elementary School property for $17 million to TTLC Management.
The Oceanside Unified School District board first voted to declare the Garrison school site as surplus property in 2020, after the school was permanently closed the previous year due to several sinkholes on campus.
This past summer, the district had sold three acres of the property to the city for the construction of a new sewer lift station, leaving the remaining 8.2 acres available for potential residential developers.
The district previously approved a purchase and sale agreement with Van Daele Homes for the remaining acreage back in the spring, but the sale was terminated after the developer backed out.
In October, the board gave staff permission to proceed with negotiations of a letter of intent from TTLC Management to buy the property after evaluating other several offers and choosing the buyer that best served the district’s interests. TTLC Management will buy the remaining Garrison school site for $17 million.
The city, the district and the buyer will enter into a cooperation agreement to proceed with development of the site.
“This is the beginning of a long process for this project,” said Trustee Mike Blessing at the Nov. 15 boarding meeting.
To develop the former school site, the process will include general plan amendments, zoning changes and public outreach meetings among other tasks through the city.
“I’m confident that in a few years we’ll have a nice project there,” Blessing said, noting that the property’s sale will add money to the district’s funds to continue improving school facilities.
Though Trustee Eleanor Evans generally opposed the sale of land owned by the school district, she supported the purchase and sale agreement due to the state’s current housing shortage.
“I always feel that we should keep our land and build our own houses,” Evans said.
