Cleveland Heights City Council Unanimously Approves Millikin Lease Proposal

The city, CH-UH School Board and Mosdos Ohr Hatorah have now all approved the lease proposal, a non-binding agreement that spells out some of the details of a possible lease before the actual document is drafted.

Cleveland Heights City Council unanimously approved a lease proposal for the former Millikin School at its regular meeting Monday, Aug. 20. The proposal was drafted by lawyers representing Mosdos Ohr Hatorah, the Orthodox Jewish School that has consistently shown interest in the building and offered to purchase it, and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, which owns the property. The non-binding agreement is meant to spell out some of the details of a possible lease before an actual lease is drafted to make sure all interested parties are on the same page. One of the terms is that the school would be leased to the city, and Cleveland Heights would sublease to Mosdos. Councilman Jason Stein thanked Mosdos officials and …

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Michelle Simakis

6:31 am on Monday, August 27, 2012

Please don't use Patch as a platform for personal arguments. This comment and what's below (as of Aug. 27 6:30 a.m.) has nothing to do with the article in question.   more ›

Updated: Council To Consider Millikin Lease Proposal Monday

Cleveland Heights City Council will review the lease proposal that involves the city, Mosdos Ohr Hatorah and the CH-UH School Board at today's regular meeting.

This article was originally published Aug. 15. A full agenda for the Aug. 20 City Council meeting is now included with this article. Cleveland Heights City Council will consider a lease proposal for the former Millikin School building at its regular meeting Monday, Aug. 20. Mayor Ed Kelley said that the city's law director, John Gibbon, reviewed the document and recommends that council approve the proposal. "I'm looking forward to a ribbon cutting and welcoming the Mosdos staff, the teachers, the students and the families into Millikin in the not too distant future," Kelley said. The proposal was drafted by lawyers representing Mosdos Ohr Hatorah, the Orthodox Jewish School that has shown interest in the building and offered to to purchase…

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Garry Kanter

6:11 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012

Yes, indeed.   more ›

State Commission Accepts Plan C, Commits Funding

The CH-UH School Board must now decide if it wants to spend $1 million toward Plan C, the facilities master plan, to lock in the rate of funding that this year created $22.8 million. And it must also decide how to move forward with Plan C.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board has much to discuss at its Aug. 21 special meeting dedicated to the facilities master plan. What timeline are members working with? What has the community suggested? Where should the district's administration move from here? One item they plan to discuss, while a bit more concrete, is not simple. Superintendent Douglas Heuer announced at the regular meeting Aug. 7 that the Ohio School Facilities Commission has accepted Plan C, the facilities master plan approved by the board 3-2 at its July 3 meeting. The board also voted 4-1 to submit that plan to the OSFC. The OSFC, which administers the state’s comprehensive K-12 public school construction program, also committed the state to …

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John H.

11:52 am on Monday, August 27, 2012

Perhaps is the district is unwilling to keep school buildings open for the meetings, they could utilize the Public Libraries. Or maybe the City of CH could be persuaded to let them have it at the CH Community Center.   more ›

CH-UH Board Approves Millikin Lease Proposal

The lease proposal indicates that the school district would lease Millikin to the City of Cleveland Heights, which would sublease to Mosdos Ohr Hatorah. Now that Mosdos and CH-UH have approved the document, they must get the city on board.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board unanimously approved a lease proposal for the former Millikin School at its regular meeting Aug. 7 at the Board of Education building. The non-binding agreement is meant to spell out some of the details of a possible lease before an actual lease is drafted to make sure all interested parties are on the same page. The proposal suggests that the district lease the school property to the City of Cleveland Heights and sublease it to Mosdos Ohr Hatorah, the Orthodox Jewish school that has shown interest in the building at 1700 Crest Road. Now that CH-UH has approved the idea, one of the next steps is to get the city on board. The proposal indicates that Mosdos would need to make $1.5 million…

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Garry Kanter

7:53 am on Wednesday, August 8, 2012

If everybody is happy, great. I don't understand the value to the school district in owning unused land.   more ›

CH-UH Board To Consider Millikin Lease Proposal

The proposal outlines some details of a possible lease agreement before the final document is drafted.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board will consider a lease proposal for the former Millikin School at its regular meeting tonight, Aug. 7, at the Board of Education building. The non-binding agreement is meant to spell out some of the details of a possible lease before an actual lease is drafted to make sure all interested parties are on the same page. The proposal suggests that the district lease the school property to the City of Cleveland Heights and sublease it to Mosdos Ohr Hatorah, the Orthodox Jewish School that has shown interest in the building at 1700 Crest Road. The proposal also indicates that Mosdos would need to make $1.5 million in permanent improvements to the building within the first 18 months of the …

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CH-UH Will Discuss Long-Term Lease Of Millikin With Mosdos

Karen Jones, CH-UH School Board president, said this is the first option that will be made available to Mosdos Ohr Hatorah.

CH-UH School Board president Karen Jones announced at Tuesday night's school board work session that the district will discuss a long-term lease of Millikin with Mosdos Ohr Hatorah. The board met in executive session at 6 p.m. before the regularly scheduled work session at 7 p.m. at Wiley Middle School. Jones had said at a meeting Monday night that the board would consider putting the former Millikin School, which has been vacant since 2006, up for public auction. Instead, the board decided to "initiate entering into negotiations of a long-term lease," Jones said. "This is the first option that will be made available," Jones said. "(A public auction) is not off the table." Alan Rapoport, a former Cleveland Heights mayor who represents …

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Kelley: Call Center Will Not Move Into Millikin

Cleveland Heights Mayor Ed Kelley confirmed the developer will have space near Monticello and Mayfield, and School Board president Karen Jones said the CH-UH Board will consider putting Millikin up for public auction in its executive session tonight.

The Millikin controversy has come full circle. The recent debate over the former school was sparked by word that a call center was interested in the building, constructed in the mid-50's, at 1700 Crest Road. Cleveland Heights Mayor Ed Kelley confirmed that was no longer on the table at a meeting Monday night that included Cleveland Heights and University Heights city councils and the CH-UH School Board at the Cleveland Heights Community Center. About 400 people came to listen to the work session, the majority being Orthodox Jewish families from Mosdos Ohr Hatorah, which wants to buy Millikin. Kelley said the developer previously interested in opening a call center in the school building, owned by the CH-UH City School District, has a …

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UPDATED: Millikin Appraisals From CH-UH, Mosdos Released

Appraisers working with the CH-UH School District assessed the property at $770K while the appraisers working with Mosdos Ohr Hatorah believe the property is worth $600K.

Updated 5:15 p.m. Wednesday The Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District released the new appraisal of the former Millikin School Tuesday, and appraisers believe market value of the property is about $770,000. Charles M. Ritley Associates conducted the new appraisal for the district, and wrote that the school building and surrounding land at 8.2 acres is valued at $740,000. The Beachwood company determined the additional 2.6 acres of land, which includes green space and the Millikin Barn, formerly on the Severance Longwood Estate, is valued at $34,000. An assessment from 2005 conducted by David E. Walter & Associates indicated the now vacant property at 1700 Crest Road was worth $2.4 million, said Superintendent Douglas …

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Comments About Millikin Are Still Rolling In. Take our Poll, And Share Your Thoughts

The Plain Dealer published an editorial Sunday that urges the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board to "seriously consider" selling the former Millikin School.

Letter to the Editor: CH-UH Schools Should Get New Appraisal For Millikin

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board should sell the property to Mosdos Ohr Hatorah, which plans to invest millions in renovations and repairs, says Susan Efroymson. Take our poll and tell us what you think.

Dear Editor: The Board of Education response to Mosdos has been disheartening. Mosdos has given a fair market value offer and the board cites rumored suspicion that Mosdos has ulterior motives as reason to ignore it. Mosdos Boys division is bursting at the seams. It has offices in corners. It has a classroom on the stage which is no longer usable as a stage anymore. It has tutoring going on beneath coats in corners of the hall. And it has no plans to use the property for anything other than the school. The Millikin property, if sold to Mosdos, would serve as elbow room for the boys and an opportunity strengthen the neighborhood. They have no plan for residential property and never did. What it does have plans to do is revitalize the area …

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