Northport Village board considers hiring consultant to study Brosnan building purchase
At a Northport Village Board of Trustees workshop held on June 20, Mayor Donna Koch asked the board to consider hiring a consultant to conduct a feasibility study for the potential purchase of the Brosnan building on Laurel Avenue. “I’m just putting it out there,” she said at the workshop. “Start thinking about this because it’s way more than my pay grade.”
Board members, who questioned if it was too early for this consideration, did not offer any opinions on the matter following Koch’s question.
The potential purchase of the Brosnan building first came up at the April 18 Northport Village board meeting when Koch announced that the Village would be sending a letter of interest to Newmark Realty, the firm representing the Northport-East Northport School District and its three available properties (Bellerose and Dickinson Avenue elementary schools, and William J. Brosnan) for either lease or sale.
Since then, Koch has discussed potential plans with County Legislator Stephanie Bontempi, New York Senator Mario Mattera and Assemblyman Keith Brown. “We need to get a comprehensive look at the grounds, the building, and how it would work,” the mayor said in April.
The district began working with Newmark Realty in November 2022 and since then, the team has heard from several interested parties across all properties, Superintendent Robert Banzer told the Journal this week. “Any potential buyers interested in submitting offers have been instructed to coordinate with Newmark Realty directly. The Board and administration will continue its due diligence throughout the summer, which includes meeting with our attorney to be fully briefed on all legal aspects of the sale or lease of a building,” Banzer said.
He reiterated that the sale of any property would require public approval via a referendum. While all three properties are available for lease or sale, Banzer and Board of Education (BOE) President Larry Licopoli have said publicly that this doesn’t necessarily mean that all available properties will be sold or leased. The BOE will deliberate on official proposals in public before they are put to a voter referendum.
Banzer stated, “We understand the community’s interest in the status of the listings and are working with Newmark and legal counsel to determine an appropriate date to provide a public update, which we anticipate will be before the start of the new school year.”
