Property Disposition

District leaders review each unused property, including location, condition, demographic projections of the area and future needs. If the leadership team determines the property is no longer needed, they recommend to the Board of Education that it be considered “surplus”  (per District Policy DN – School Properties Disposition). The Board must vote to classify a facility as “surplus” in order to move forward with the process of selling or leasing it to an outside entity. Designation as surplus is not a guarantee that the property will be sold, but it does allow district staff to explore sale and lease opportunities in accordance with the Disposition process.

Once a property has been deemed “surplus” by the Board of Education, Jeffco staff first engages with the relevant municipality to see if they have an interest in the property. If a municipality does not express an interest, the district will advertise and host a public community input meeting to share detailed information about the property disposition process, and will then put out a call for proposals for future usage. Any person, organization, group or business may submit a proposal during the proposal window.

Once proposals have been submitted, Jeffco begins a thorough review process involving community members who join the Property Disposition Advisory Committee (PDAC) as ad-hoc members, the Property Disposition Advisory Committee and Jeffco staff. The advisory committee’s assessment of proposals is shared with Jeffco’s leadership team, which in turn informs the Board and enters into contract negotiations with one or more “proposers” based on their review.

Below are the criteria the ad-hoc and advisory committees use to make recommendations when pre-qualification responses and proposals are received from interested parties.

Property disposition process evaluation criteria

• Collaborative partner: Partnership with a buyer that maintains an open, active, responsive and committed approach to collaboration with Jeffco and/or City staff, the community, and immediate neighbors as valued and interested partners.
• Financial capacity and benefits: Partnership with a buyer that has the financial capacity to guarantee the successful completion of the Project and provides return to Jeffco Public Schools.
• Enhance neighborhood quality: Jeffco seeks to promote the greater community and local economic development. The buyer may achieve this by providing a range of property types, including office, residential, retail, and community assets, that respond to the community's values and meet the needs of an economically and socially diverse community. Preference will be given to buyers who demonstrate a financially feasible project plan with amenities and services that meet the existing community needs, and who design the product mix in a way that improves the existing neighborhood character over the lifetime of the project. Permitted and prohibited uses are typically outlined in the city’s development resources page.
• Neighborhood compatibility and design: The site is within a residential community, and the proposed project should blend in with the surrounding community and the residential nature.
• Strategic planning: Thoughtful planning that prioritizes efficient and creative site design, strategic phasing and overall architectural and design excellence.

Municipality property disposition evaluation criteria

• Mutual benefit: Proposed use benefits the city or county and the district’s students, families, employees and neighbors. 
• Zero cost to the district: The property no longer requires any district funding or financing. 
• Adequate compensation: The district stands to receive a fair and reasonable amount of money or some other form of payment or agreeable terms (i.e., the building/property is returned to the district if no longer used by the municipality for its intended purpose; the district retains ownership of a component of the property) to ensure its ability to maximize revenue to serve its current student population. 
• High-quality project: Clear metrics support a contribution to social and economic growth (direct or indirect); the project advances the economic opportunities of the people most in need of them. 
• Network effects: The project is uniquely compatible with connected infrastructure.

Jeffco staff will work with interested parties on negotiating the terms of a sale or lease. Once terms are finalized, the Board will receive information about the negotiated contract, including a staff recommendation, to make a final decision. The Board of Education holds final decision authority for any long-term lease or sale of property.

Jeffco will continue to maintain all properties it owns until the transfer of that ownership is complete.

Property valuation is complex and depends on both a property's desirability and the types of buyers interested in a given property type at a given time. The school district uses both appraisal reports and valuations prepared by its broker to determine an approximate value for specific use cases, but it is impossible to determine a “market value” before soliciting offers and determining what the market of potential buyers is really willing to pay for a given property. 

Developer values are typically lower due to the costs associated with redevelopment, including obtaining any required zoning changes or plan amendments from city governments, demolishing the building and preparing the site for future use, building infrastructure, and marketing and selling homes. These costs are all incurred by a developer buyer, and are factored into the value for which a property can be sold for development. 
For buyers wanting to reuse the building, values could be higher, except in cases where reusing the property would require significant renovations or updates, depending on the buyer’s purpose. 

Ultimately, the market value of the property can only be determined once offers are solicited, vetted and adjusted for present-day value.

Jeffco Public Schools works closely with the Colorado state demographer and county planners to estimate and forecast future enrollment. Due to a continued national decline in the birth rate and patterns of movement into and out of Jefferson County, overall district enrollment is forecast to decline through at least 2031. 

Additionally, Jeffco Public Schools has a capacity of 88,104 students and a current enrollment of 74,193 students, meaning there is capacity to support an additional 13,911 students in the remaining district schools. While it is unlikely that enrollment will return to previous levels in the future, Jeffco also has ample space across its school portfolio to construct additions if needed, though this scenario is very unlikely.

View a visual of Jeffco's enrollment forecast and building capacity.

Revenue from sold or rented property, per district policy DN, will be credited to the capital reserve. Revenue from property sales is a one-time funding source, and the district's capital needs will continue to rise as buildings age and require maintenance. Jeffco’s average annual capital maintenance need is $105M. This can support budget issues, to a limited degree, in helping meet the annual $105M maintenance obligation. 

View a visual of annual cost to maintain, renovate and replace capital facilities and equipment.

Updates about property status are shared on the property disposition webpage and via our property disposition newsletter. Impacted residents within one mile of each property will also be notified by mail when community information sessions are held regarding those properties.

Per District Policy DN – School Properties Disposition only the Board may deem a property as “surplus.” The Jeffco leadership team will take their surplus recommendations to the Board, which will then vote to approve or deny the recommendation(s).

Jeffco’s leadership team is conducting a comprehensive self-assessment of anticipated needs for both current and future students. Enrollment trends, birth rates, neighborhood demographics, housing forecasts and evolving student needs are examples of considerations in the decision-making process.

View a list of properties that are currently vacant or will become vacant soon.

Jeffco is committed to ensuring safety and maintaining adequate aesthetics on all properties, whether occupied or not. As such, all vacant buildings will have robust security systems in place, inclusive of monitored cameras, and will be regularly patrolled by Jeffco security and local law enforcement. Exterior building and grounds maintenance will be commensurate with occupied buildings.

We contact municipalities early in our process to inform them about properties in their area that will soon be available for sale. This allows the municipalities to express interest in purchasing the property for community use before it is offered to others. 

Should a municipality express interest in a property, we initiate our Municipal Interest Process.

If a property enters our regular surplus process, it means that the municipality did not express interest in acquiring the building.

Once a building or parcel of land has been deemed “surplus” by the Board, the disposition process will begin. Detailed property information and tours will be made available to the public via our partner broker, JLL. Anyone who signs up on this webpage will also receive marketing materials directly. Once open, proposal applications may be submitted by any person or organization and will not be contractually binding. 

After the submission deadline, all usage proposals for the property will be reviewed by the Jeffco leadership team as well as the Property Disposition Advisory Committee. The advisory committee (including geographic-specific ad-hoc members) will score proposals against the identified selection criteria. Once proposals have been reviewed, contracting discussions will begin.

To learn more about the committee's composition, role and time commitments, view the one-page overview.

The core members of the committee will participate in every site’s recommendation-making process and will be comprised of the following:

• One or two representatives from the District Accountability Committee (DAC):
  • Parker Brown
• One or two representatives from the Capital Asset Advisory Committee (CAAC):
  • Eric Lugger
  • Heather Gasper
• One or two representatives from the Financial Advisory Committee (FAC):
  • Gary Colbert
• Two representatives from Jeffco staff:
  • Jeff Gatlin, Chief Operating Officer
  • Support: Greg Avedikian, Project Manager, Chief Operating Office

An additional two to three members from the nearby community will be added to the committee and will participate in the recommendation-making process for their local site when a property enters the standard disposition process. These ad-hoc committee members will be selected via an application process.

Because the voices of nearby community members are critical in determining the future use of Jeffco properties, the district is seeking people who live or work near surplus sites to serve as ad-hoc members of the advisory committee.

Members of the Jefferson County community who are interested in serving as an ad-hoc member of Jeffco's Property Disposition Advisory Committee are invited to complete the interest form below.

Property Disposition Advisory Committee Interest Form

Please note: This form is only available when we are actively recruiting new ad-hoc committee members.

Jeffco is seeking input from community members about the future use of surplus properties. The following opportunities exist to vocalize opinions and participate in the process:

• Attend a community engagement meeting. View the “Important Dates” section for dates and times.
• Sign up to receive email updates about community engagement opportunities related to one or more surplus properties.
• Share feedback through the Property Disposition Community Voice form.

View the "Review and Recommend" section to read the evaluation criteria the ad-hoc and advisory committees are using to make recommendations when pre-qualification responses and proposals are received from interested parties.