Sacramento City Unified School District’s Board of Education has directed staff to begin negotiations with a potential developer for the Old Marshall School site in Midtown.

Mogavero Architects and Bardis Homes submitted a proposal to renovate the 113-year-old school into senior housing and to build on the site 35 to 50 for-sale condominiums targeted to empty-nesters and retirees. Bardis Homes is currently developing The Mill at Broadway in North Land Park. Any potential development plan for Old Marshall would require review and approval by various governmental agencies, including the city’s Planning Commission. The proposed development will then be submitted for review and final approval at a future Board meeting and will be subject to public comment.

SCUSD has been at work since last spring to find a new use for Old Marshall, which has been vacant since 2009. Old Marshall was designed by Rudolph Harold, a locally prominent architect who designed City Hall. Located at 2718 G St., it was used as an elementary school until 1976, when it was closed due to concerns about its ability to withstand an earthquake.

After a major infrastructure overhaul, it reopened in 1983 and at various times housed a preschool, adult school, employment center and small high school.

Established in 1854, Sacramento City Unified is one of the oldest school districts in the western United States. The district serves 43,000 students at 77 schools and is the 13th largest in California.

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