Real estate development would be much easier if everyone could get land for free — or close to it.
Of course there are the expenses of design, site work and construction. There may be hurdles for permits and approvals. But the cost of land is often the biggest obstacle. As many real estate professionals will quip, they are not making any more of it.
That begs the question why the Burrell School Board is so eager to give away 10 acres for just $1. That is not $1 per acre. It is the bargain price of four shiny quarters for more than 435,000 square feet of public property.
The 10-acre figure includes not only the district’s 8.44-acre Stewart Elementary parcel but an additional 1.6 acres the City of Lower Burrell plans to donate and roll into the same private sale agreement.
Or it will be if the deal is approved by a Westmoreland County judge.
State law allows school districts to sell unused property at auction, through sealed bids or at private sale. If it chooses a private sale, the district must seek court approval.
The petition must include affidavits from at least two disinterested individuals familiar with local real estate values attesting “that the price offered therefor is a fair and reasonable one and in their opinion a better price than could be obtained at public sale.”
A 0.37-acre lot down Leechburg Road is currently listed for $40,000. There are no comparable 10-acre parcels for sale, and larger tracts do not scale neatly in price. But the contrast is noteworthy.
Demolition and asbestos abatement must be considered. Stewart Elementary, built in 1931 and expanded in 1939, carries an estimated $370,000 abatement cost and roughly $900,000 in demolition expenses. Maintaining the vacant building costs about $200,000 a year.
Under the proposed agreement, developer David Ziccarelli would split the abatement cost, leaving the district responsible for about $185,000, and assume demolition as part of redevelopment. The district projects the completed development would generate roughly one mill in new annual tax revenue.
All of this matters. But it changes how the price is understood.
This is not a $1 sale. It is $184,999 of red ink.
One mill in the Burrell School District generates more than $150,000 annually. It would take more than a year of full tax collections just to offset the district’s abatement contribution — assuming every unit is built and assessed as projected.
And this is not a Burrell-only issue. Similar deals crop up regularly across the state, including a 2024 proposed lease of North Huntingdon property for a $30 million sports complex at just $1 annually. That led the municipality to draft new rules on public land use in 2025.
The state statutes are written the way they are written to keep public assets clearly in the public eye as they are sold, given away or otherwise distributed.
While going to court is one of the prescribed paths allowed for the transfer of ownership, it remains up to a judge to decide whether $1, the cost of abatement and a promise of future tax money is the going rate for Burrell School District real estate.