Shawnee Mission district refuses to release info on bids for Mission Valley

District patrons hoping to get a better sense of what to expect as the Shawnee Mission Board of Education prepares to sell Mission Valley Middle School may have to wait until the day a decision is made about the property to find out what offers are on the table.

Citing concerns about real estate developers withdrawing their offers for the school, the Shawnee Mission School District is refusing to release any information about the bids it received prior to the Monday deadline it set at its last Board of Education meeting.

District attorney Curt Tideman said that after conferring with the parties that had submitted offers, he “couldn’t get any comfort that an offer might not be withdrawn” if any information – even the number of bids received – were to be released.

At its public board meeting June 13, the board discussed three potential offers it had received from real estate developers LANE4, Price Brothers and RED Development.

LANE4 President Owen Buckley told PVPost.com last week that the company would not comment on its submission until after a decision had been made except to say that LANE4’s proposal does not include any retail. Price Brothers refused to comment as well.

Though the sale of Mission Valley is not listed on the Board of Education agenda released to the press earlier this week, Tideman tells PVPost.com he expects that a discussion will take place during Monday’s meeting, during which the board may vote on selling the property.