In a community meeting that took place on May 9th, 2007 at Longfellow Elementary, Superintendent of Royal Oak Public Schools and the representatives from Great Northern Consultants met Royal Oak residents to discuss the fate of the Longfellow Elementary Property. The representatives from Northern Consultants, a real estate advisory company to the Royal Oak School Board, explained that a Request for Proposal (RFP) had been submitted for the sale and development of the Longfellow Elementary Property.

The consultants explained that the Longfellow property has been publicly placed for sale and that potential developers have until May 23rd, 2007 to submit their proposed plans and price that they are willing to pay for the parcel of land. Once the bids are submitted, Great Northern Consultants will examine all of the bids and make their recommendations to the Royal Oak School Board. The Royal Oak School Board will then make their final decision sometime in July 2007 at their next scheduled school board meeting.

The representatives from the Great Northern Consultants mentioned that the parcel of land that borders 11 mile road may be developed as retail or office. They also revealed that the South Oakland YMCA has expressed an interest in purchasing a part of the property for future development of a new and modern YMCA. Unfortunately, with the recent money that the YMCA has invested in building a new facility in the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, they might lack the capital to purchase the property. Specifically, they will lack the capital to afford what the Royal Oak School Board wants for the property.

As for the many hopes of saving or redeveloping Longfellow Elementary Building, it seems unlikely. The land has development restrictions that would require developers of the building to have the property rezoned. The Longfellow Elementary property is currently zoned single-family residential, which means that homes will probably end up being built on the former Elementary Building’s site. In addition, the property has height restrictions that will not allow developers to increase the height of the current structure. It is a truly sad ending for a beautiful building that has survived for multiple generations of Royal Oak families.

The unlikely reuse of the building has saddened some of our Royal Oak Senior Citizen Community who continue to publicly voice their desire and need for more senior housing in Royal Oak.

Perhaps, the new developers will hear their cries for more senior-oriented housing and build a low-rise, high income, senior development on the site.

For those of you interested in voicing your opinions of what you would like to become of the Longfellow Elementary Property, please feel free to post your ideas here on my blog.

And remember, if you want to help shape the future of Royal Oak, come get involved. Visit the next Royal Oak School Board Meeting. A schedule and location of their meetings can be found online at http://www.royaloakschools.com/portal/bmeetings