The redevelopment of the former Lake Street School in Auburn could now include a condominium project next door instead of a child care facility as originally planned.

In September 2023, the City Council authorized the sale of the former school, along with two Fern Street parcels next door, to developer Jim Wu for $100,000.

At the time, the approval was based on a reuse of the property that would retain a community benefit: a day care facility in an area that desperately needs it, and a new playground in front of the former school.

According to city staff, the day care facility was opposed by neighbors who became aware of the plan, and Wu has also struggled to find a willing day care operator.

The site plan application for the condominium project at 7-9 Fern St. said the city has been “strategizing a mutually agreeable development plan” for the lot, and the day care center was believed to be “a great solution and setting given the proximity to the playground, neighborhood, and overall need of the community.”

“However, upon engagement of the neighborhood stakeholders by the city, they firmly expressed their disapproval of that concept and instead wanted a development that would align with the homes in the surrounding areas,” the application states. 

Instead, Wu proposed the condominium project as it “responds to that feedback while also addressing the city’s housing needs.”

Eric Cousens, director of public services, said the concerns expressed by neighbors included that the day care would generate traffic and noise.

He said Wu has also been unable to find someone who would operate “a small day care economically,” because it would be larger than a home day care that has little overhead, but “too small to be viable as a day care center with the overhead of a new structure.”

Wu did not respond to calls for comment Wednesday.  

The planning board is slated to hold a public hearing on the five-unit condominium project on Tuesday.

The former school at 80 Lake St., built in 1923, had been shopped by city staff after the School Department decided to downsize and vacate its special education program, which had long operated at the school. The decision was made after it was deemed that necessary repairs were too costly for a building that served fewer than two dozen students.

After former Mayor Jason Levesque formed a small, ad hoc committee made up of neighbors, city staff created a request for proposals stipulating that the redevelopment feature a child care facility given the “desperate need for child care” services in the area. The state had determined the school is not up to safety standards for a child care facility, which led to the proposal to develop a standalone facility on Fern Street.

When reached Wednesday, Levesque said the council at the time accepted the development proposal based on the child care component, and that the ad hoc committee’s feedback was used to go forward with the initial plan.

“We conducted a transparent and public-facing process to come to the conclusion that child care was desperately needed in that area of Auburn and that’s why we made it a condition to any developer to include (a child care facility),” he said. “The council was clear that they did not want to give away land for market rate development without a significant contribution to the public good. Child care would meet that definition and it’s a continuation of the historic use of the property.”

Levesque said city staff ran analytics at the time, which found the area was a “child care desert.”

Evan Cyr, the former longtime planning board chair, said in a recent Facebook post about the condominium plan that the day care facility “was literally the whole point” of the redevelopment.

The city’s assessing department lists the value of the former school property at nearly $500,000, while each Fern Street parcel is valued at roughly $30,000. The Fern Street lots adjacent to the school weren’t buildable until the neighborhood’s zoning was changed to a form-based code during Levesque’s tenure.

Mayor Jeff Harmon said Wednesday that he was also told that Wu has been unable to find a business to operate a day care center, and “proposing additional housing seems like a reasonable path forward if a day care is not feasible.”

Over the past year, the playground in front of the school has been rebuilt, but has not been reopened.

According to Cousens, the fence surrounding it will remain until the state approves a final plan and the building is completed. There will be additional amenities added, including swings, he said.

Cousens said the state’s approval is needed because it was a Land and Water Conservation Fund site that requires approval for site changes, even upgrades, and staff expect to obtain it within the next two months.