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Bally’s philanthropic basis provided to purchase the property of Preston Excessive Faculty in Throggs Neck for $8.5 million to stop the college from completely closing in June, however the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, who personal the positioning, rejected the proposal, the Bronx Instances has realized.
Regardless of assist from native elected officers, the rejection means the all-girls Catholic college stays on observe to shut on the finish of the college yr.
The supply got here from Bally’s Basis North America, Inc., a Delaware-based nonprofit funded by Bally’s Company. An organization spokesperson stated the inspiration operates independently with its personal governing board and a mission to assist psychological, bodily, financial, and social well-being in communities the place Bally’s does enterprise.
Bally’s is extra well known for its company arm, which runs playing venues nationwide and is at present pursuing a bid to remodel its namesake Ferry Level Park golf course right into a 3.1-million-square-foot on line casino, resort and leisure advanced. The mission faces group opposition and requires state and native approvals, in addition to a state gaming license, to maneuver ahead.
The Sisters had been trying to promote the property that homes the all-girls’ non-public Catholic college since round 2019, once they determined to surrender landlord duties and promote their portfolio of properties. They hoped the college would be capable of purchase the positioning, and after a yr and a half of negotiations solely with Preston, the events landed on a deal in December 2024.
However after the college couldn’t pay its deliberate first installment, the Sisters introduced Feb. 25 that the college will shut, citing monetary instability and declining enrollment over the previous decade.
The Sisters and Preston Principal Jennifer Connolly didn’t reply to Bronx Instances’ request for remark.
The deal that wasn’t
Picture courtesy Bally’s
When Bally’s chairperson Soo Kim realized final month of the upcoming closure, he instantly reached out on behalf of the inspiration and expressed eagerness to purchase the property, he stated in an interview with the Bronx Instances.
To Kim, saving Preston was a chance for his firm to indicate that they might “be good neighbors” as they bid for the on line casino resort mission.
“We were doing a community good,” he stated.
After speaking with the nuns’ lawyer, the inspiration agreed to pay the Sisters $8.5 million —the identical quantity as Preston would have purchased for — plus $1.5 million for a brand new roof and boilers, the spokesperson stated.
The muse additionally agreed to a 25-year lease to Preston for $1 per yr, with the choice for the college to purchase it sooner or later.
Bally’s sought no management of Preston by way of naming rights, branding, board of trustees positions or some other facet of faculty id and operations, the spokesperson stated. Whereas the Bally’s Basis has beforehand donated to instructional establishments, the donation to a faculty with the only objective of preserving it open would’ve been a primary for the group.
All events agreed to phrases on March 4 and drew up a contract. “We thought we got this deal done,” stated Kim.
However for causes unknown to him, the Sisters backed out.
“We met their ask,” Kim stated. “We don’t know why the nuns changed their minds.”
The spokesperson stated that “when pressed for reasoning,” the Sisters’ lawyer, Dan Berman, cited “doubts about the school’s long-term viability.”
‘Hoping for a miracle’
In the meantime, the Preston Board of Trustees, with three of its six members being Sisters, issued a press release on March 13 confirming that the closure determination was last.
“While we commend everyone who has taken action to keep Preston open, we must reiterate that the decision to close the school is final. We will not be entertaining any circumstances that would alter this fact. … We do not want to foster false hope that any ongoing attempts will reverse the closing of the school,” the board stated.
Elected officers, together with Council Member and Majority Chief Amanda Farías, a 2007 Preston graduate, have explored a number of funding choices to maintain the college open. Once they noticed the Bally’s buy supply, they supported it.
The Bally’s supply got here from “a good faith foundation willing to put up the cash to allow the school the time the Sisters would not afford them to come up with their financing to purchase independently,” Farías stated in a press release to the Bronx Instances.
Meeting Member Michael Benedetto, who represents Throggs Neck, was additionally disillusioned to see the Bally’s supply fall via.
He informed the Bronx Instances that he’d been “hoping for a miracle” to stop Preston’s closure, and when he obtained the decision from Bally’s, it appeared like his want had come true.
“Bally’s had always said to us that they would be good community members” if the [casino] mission went via, stated Benedetto. By attempting to avoid wasting Preston, “They were willing to put their own cash behind their words.”
Benedetto, Farías and State Senator Nathalia Fernandez all communicated with Bally’s in regards to the potential deal and strongly supported it. The sale appeared to be “95% sure” — till it wasn’t, Benedetto stated.
“We’re just speechless,” he stated. “We’re all dismayed, disappointed and frustrated that all our work has gone to naught.”
Fernandez informed the Bronx Instances that she first recognized Bally’s as a possible purchaser, and she or he additionally doesn’t perceive why the Sisters backed out. She stated they confirmed no rapid opposition to the playing company or some other issue. “Everyone seemed okay with it.”
Phrase of the failed Bally’s deal has begun to unfold to the college group. Frank Toapha, mother or father of a present Preston sophomore and incoming freshman, informed the Bronx Instances he was conscious of the supply and doesn’t perceive why it’s off the desk.
For the reason that Sisters wished to finish their obligations as landlords, “Why not, if someone’s offering money, just take your money and go?” he stated.
Toapha stated he was disillusioned to obtain the letter stating that no additional choices will probably be thought-about. The household has reluctantly begun to consider different college choices, however finally, he desperately wished each of his ladies to proceed their training at Preston, the place the older daughter has blossomed, in keeping with Toapha. “It opened up her horizons, and it seems like it’s being taken away.”
Unsure future
Despite the fact that the deal didn’t work out, Benedetto stated that Bally’s effort to purchase Preston “spoke volumes” about its dedication to the Bronx group amid the on line casino bid.
He stated he’s nonetheless weighing many components surrounding the mission, together with its influence on native jobs, crime and visitors, however Bally’s try to avoid wasting Preston “does influence me a little bit,” he stated.
With the deal now off the desk, the lawmakers have talked with Legal professional Common Letitia James, “asking her to look into the matter and whether it has been conducted on the up and up,” stated Benedetto. The lawyer basic’s workplace regulates New York nonprofits, together with gross sales of their properties.
The three lawmakers are involved in regards to the small measurement of the Preston Board of Trustees and the dearth of out of doors illustration amongst its members, Benedetto stated. Because the Bronx Instances beforehand reported, in 2021, the board had 13 members, together with 5 alums. Now, it has solely six members, three of whom are nuns with the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, and no alumni consultant aside from the principal.
For individuals who understand how shut the Sisters got here to preserving Preston open, the frustration stays.
With the closure last, it seems that “no amount of money that’s being offered” will make them change their thoughts, stated Toapha. “Is Bally’s the problem, or is it just them?”
