Scranton, PA - $500G Offer Complicates School Sale

Scranton, PA - Another prospective buyer has emerged for the closed East Scranton Intermediate School, which the Scranton School Board agreed two months ago to sell to a Jewish community from Brooklyn, N.Y.

A company led by city businessman Paul Mansour is willing to pay $500,000 for the Quincy Avenue building, $100,000 more than Nadvorna Hasidic group whose offer the board approved unanimously Aug. 28, attorney Matthew Barrett said. “We don’t perceive it as being late in the day,” Mr. Barrett said of the timing of Madison School Properties LLC’s proposal. “The opportunity is presenting itself. It’s a great building, and we think $500,000 is a great price for the school,” he said.

Whether the School Board can entertain the offer will likely fall to Lackawanna County Court.
District solicitor Harry McGrath said “My position is, we have an offer of $400,000 and acceptance by the board, so we have a contract,” Mr. McGrath said. To derail the sale, Mr. McGrath said, Madison School Properties would have to demonstrate $400,000 does not represent fair market value for the property, which the district had appraised a few years ago at $350,000 to $375,000.
Mr. Barrett said that’s precisely what his client will argue. “We don’t think that is a reasonable price,” he said of the $400,000 offer. “We would hope the court would take into account that my client is willing to pay more in determining whether that is a reasonable price.”

Mr. Mansour, owner of the Carlisle Group, a computer software developer, said he didn’t make an offer for the property earlier because he didn’t know it was for sale.