Community hubs at risk over rents

At the Phinney Neighborhood Association's three-acre campus, 5- and 6-year-olds learn Japanese while adults take part in a choir practice, learn to crochet or meet for salsa dancing lessons.

The campus is the hub of activity in the Phinney Ridge and Greenwood neighborhoods, and parents worry what will happen if the association has to vacate the property — one of seven former school properties that Seattle Public Schools still owns and considers ripe for raising rents.

If the School Board acts on one draft proposal, rents could more than double for the Phinney Neighborhood Association and at another neighborhood hub, the University Heights Center in the University District.

Phinney's long-term lease ends in 2009, and University Heights' lease in 2008. The community centers have sought help from the city to buy the properties so they won't have to close.

City Councilman Richard Conlin and three other council members have asked the Seattle School Board to sell the two properties to the city or the two community groups. The council is scheduled to vote Thursday on setting aside $2.5 million for each property.

"Philosophically, I think most council members would like to see this happen," Conlin says.

With its rich hardwood floors, wide staircases and airy classrooms, the Phinney campus' main building, the old Allen School, harks back to the turn of the 20th century, when Seattle's school-age population was growing rapidly.

In 1980, after more than a decade of sharply declining enrollment, the School Board began closing 20 elementary schools, with Allen School closing in 1981 and University Heights in 1989. The district leased the buildings, at 6532 Phinney Ave. N., to private tenants.

The leases were at discounted market rates because the tenants were operating centers for youth and families. Now the district is reviewing its leasing policy as it tries to balance its budget.

Edward Medeiros, executive director of the Phinney Neighborhood Association, says that when the nonprofit group took over the school, the roof leaked and the heating system was antiquated. The group since has spent about $1 million on improvements, he says.

Nearly 2,500 households — one-third of them outside the immediate neighborhood — are members of the community center. The association runs soup kitchens, a senior center, a day-care service and many programs for youth.

"It provides so much structure to the rhythm of the community," says Sarah Kopf, whose child attends the preschool. She moved here from out of state, she said, and the center "was a way to meet people."

Likewise, University Heights Center, at 5031 University Way N.E., has become a magnet for University District residents and for others who come on Saturdays to shop at the center's farmers market.

Ron English, a school-district attorney, said he expects the Seattle School Board to vote early next year on the policy affecting tenants' rents. The other old school buildings that would be affected by a change in policy are Webster, Fauntleroy, North Queen Anne, Sand Point and Crown Hill, he said.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com