By Chris Adams Chase County Leader-News

A former school in Chase County is being turned into premium apartments as housing becomes a sought-after commodity in the area.

“They (the developer) plan to have people in apartments by the end of this January,” said Lee Anne Coester, a Chase County Old School Development District board member. “We are planning a dual open house the first part of January.”

The Chase County Old School Development District (CCOSDD), a not-for-profit corporation formed to preserve the old school’s history while maintaining neighborhood integrity through community engagement and development opportunities, initiated the project.

The Cottonwood School Lofts comprises six two-bedroom and four one-bedroom apartments for a total of 12,000 square feet of living space. Coester said there are no cookie-cutter elements to these units.

“They are all uniquely beautiful. The classrooms were really large…underneath the whiteboards, they found some intact chalkboards in some. So that’s framed out in some. Some had a big, nice support pole right in the middle and they have incorporated that.”

She said the spaces also possess attractive natural lighting due to their location in the building and generous window space.

“They all have wonderful natural light. Almost all of them sat in a corner of the building and so have these huge old windows on two sides, and the others have a whole wall full of windows.”

The lower-floor apartments are designed for wheelchair accessibility, including controls on the front of appliances and open spaces underneath sinks.

Plans for the former Chase County Elementary building and its property — constructed in 1904 and listed on the National Historic Registry — have been in effect for nearly 15 years. After the school closed in 2010, the CCOSDD raised funds to purchase the property and spearhead development on the site. Originally, they sold it to a well-known Kansas developer to convert the property into senior housing. However, that venture ended when state funding fell through.

“He got ahold of me back in 2019 and said that he had to sell the property,” Coester said. “He couldn’t continue to maintain it since he’s a nonprofit.”

The CCOSDD convened several community meetings and repurchased the building/property, pivoting to high-quality apartment units.

“We had really, really good support,” Coester said. “This developer offered to sell it to us on contract at a really nice low rate of interest, and we bought the property back and were able to pay off the mortgage within a couple of years.”

The development district then pivoted to high-quality apartment units. They just needed to find the right developer.

“From the community input, we knew that one of the main things that was needed was housing,” Coester said.

There was a consensus within the county — school district, community leaders and local manufacturing plant — that a lack of housing was having an adverse impact.

“We went hunting for a developer who specialized in historic properties,” Coester said.

After a multitude of interviews during a nine-month stretch and a host of visits to other sites around the state, they decided on Frontier Development Group.

“We went to visit their properties. They presented a beautifully organized proposal,” she said.

The CCOSDD sold Frontier the school building but retained the six acres of land and gymnasium (now a community center). Coester said the group was very protective of the school building property, but Frontier managing partners Tyler and Nate Holloman were exceptionally accommodating.

“They were very nice to work with us and all of our little idiosyncrasies and requests,” she added. “They’re the ones that have just made this happen and that have been so good.”

For those interested in the Cottonwood School Lofts, Coester recommends they submit an application as soon as possible.

“Right now, they are taking names to send out applications. And so I would encourage anyone who is interested to get that done because they have been taking those names for quite a few months now. We’ve got some people just dying to get in.”

Coester said it was a challenging undertaking, but numerous people helped make the project a reality.

“A large number of people have been working to save this school for 14 years. I almost always get tears in my eyes when I walk through. It’s just that we fought some really hard battles to get to this point. And to see it take on a new life and be something that will help our community means a lot.”

For more information, visit Frontier Development Group at frontierdev.group or call (785) 370-0162.

Source: https://www.emporiagazette.com/area_news/article_1d1eccf2-a75d-11ef-9129-bfb05f0e7c18.html