LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — The Mondelēz International office building, which sits prominently at the front of the Hanover Industrial Estates, could soon have a new life with the Hanover Area School District.
The district is looking to purchase the 140,000-square-foot building from the snack food company for $5 million in what Superintendent Nathan Barrett calls a "bargain sale." With the bargain sale, Mondelēz will receive a tax incentive for the difference between the sale price and fair market value.
The district has been looking at the potential of building a new school, but the costs were just too high. Barrett said estimates came in between $90 to $100 million to build a new building on school property.
The need for the extra space comes as Hanover Area sees a growing enrollment and not enough space in its four aging neighborhood elementary schools: Lyndwood, Memorial, Hanover Green, and Lee Park.
Superintendent Nathan Barrett believes that the district will be able to expand on programming in the potential new space because they are over capacity in every elementary building.
"So even if we did come up with a creative idea that would allow kids to learn outside of traditional mindsets, we can't. We don't have any space," said Barrett.
The district would combine all four of its elementary schools, Pre-K through 6th grade, under one roof on the 23-acre property. As for the current district buildings, the plans include selling Lyndwood and Lee Park Elementary. While Memorial Elementary, which currently houses 5th and 6th grade, would be renovated into a STEM Academy, offering advanced learning to 200 students.
There are also plans for Hanover Green's building to be repurposed into Central Registration. The hope is to include a healthcare facility inside of the building and a daycare for teachers to utilize. Barrett stressed the importance of staff retention.
"The new facility could be a one-stop shop for families; they can get their immunizations, their health care examinations, and then go into register. Then upstairs, there's a plan to try a childcare facility," said Barrett.
According to Luzerne County tax records, Hanover Area has some of the highest tax rates in the county. Barrett says all of these changes are not expected to impact taxpayers.
Barrett says there are plans to utilize the money from the state's fair funding formula, which will give the district an extra $2.8 million for the next nine years.
"When you looked at the top 10% of underfunded schools in the Commonwealth, Hanover Area was [one of them], and it was on the backs of the taxpayer. The state is now making good on that, so there will be an $18 million surplus," added the superintendent.
Barrett also mentioned there would be additional tax revenues coming in for the township from companies currently under Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance. LERTA is the tax abatement program created by the Commonwealth, authorizing local taxing authorities to provide tax exemption.
Public documents show major companies, like Chewy, Adidas, and Wise Chips, located within Hanover Industrial Estates will begin paying tax revenues as early as 2025.
However, as the potential sales agreement is signed, the property is still zoned for industrial use. A zoning hearing to potentially change it will be held on December 17th.