By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

It might have been the beautiful evening weather, or maybe the convoluted topic, but only one person — perennial district-property-sale opponent Chris Jackins — showed up at tonight’s Seattle Public Schools public hearing at Gatewood Elementary School to take comments on the pending sale of air rights at Jefferson Square.

The school district will continue to own the land and the commercial buildings, but, because of a lawsuit (explained in this WSB report), is planning to sell the air rights — not any buildings or land. The school district receives $173,226 annually in rent for the commercial property, and that will continue.

The air rights will be sold for $500,000. The school board is expected to vote on the proposal July 1.

Ron English, deputy general counsel for the school district, said the district doesn’t own the apartment buildings, but it owns the air that they are built in. The building owner is leasing the air rights through 2083.

English said he sees it this way: if the district doesn’t sell the air space, they will own a building come 2083. If they do sell, they have $500,000.

The money from the sale could be used for capital improvements, but not for teacher salaries, said English.

Jefferson Square, which includes a Safeway and Bartell Drugs, is built on the spot where Jefferson School once stood. The brick schoolhouse was named after President Thomas Jefferson, according to school district history. It was enlarged with a new addition in 1928.

The school closed in 1979. The property was declared surplus and leased in 1982 for 99 years
to a developer who demolished the brick building in 1985 and built Jefferson Square shopping center and apartments on the site.