Mayor Greg Nickel's has included a $4 million challenge grant for the purchase four surplussed schools and another $1 million in an offer to buy Webster Park.

This money is to entice those organizations now leasing the closed schools to buy them from the Seattle School District. Two of the four schools are in Ballard area, the Crown Hill Elementary School site, leased primarily by Small Faces Child Development Center, and the Allen site, leased by Phinney Neighborhood Association.

The other two leased schools are University Heights Center for the Community and Fauntleroy Children's Center in West Seattle. As the city leases Webster Park from the Seattle School District, the city would therefore be the buyer.

Complications are the common thread in the transaction of each property. Dwight Dively, the city's director of finance, touched on them while putting an optimistic spin on what seems to be several vexing real estate deals where the devil will be in the details.

For instance, in 1996, the community organization, Groundswell NW, raised $250,000 to transform a portion of Webster School's parking lot into Webster Park, which, of course, is on school district property. For 16 years the school district has leased the park to the city's Seattle Parks and Recreation department for one dollar a year. While there may be some negotiating on sale price, the school district and Seattle Parks and Recreation are financially codependent as the school district needs to sell, and the city is the only entity in a position to buy.

The Webster school building adjacent to the park is leased by the Nordic Heritage Museum. Their building is not surplussed. Instead, a new lease is in the works, for a price. The museum's $65,000 annual rent is raised to $140,000, through 2015. However, they can break the lease with a six-month notice, which they plan to do when they move into their new home in about 5 years.

Regarding the 4-acre Crown Hill property, it was in 2000 that the Seattle Pro-Parks Levy earmarked $1.01 million to develop a park on the old playground space. The city held a series of meetings to fine tune the Crown Hill Park plan, and invested in architects and plans. The park remains unbuilt.

The site, therefore, includes two buildings, the future park, and the "dirt," or property upon which they sit. The park plan influences the overall property deal, as the city wants to protect its investment in the park and keep it public, and maintained, regardless of who buys the site.

There is a lot of nail biting at the Phinney Neighborhood Association as their staff awaits the School District's announcement of the purchase price, which they expect any day now. Phinney has been interested in purchasing the leased property for 26 years.

Last year, the Seattle City Council recommended a $5 million challenge grant for the proposed 2007 budget to be divided between Phinney and University Heights, or $1.5 million more per property than what is now in the mayor's 2008 proposal. Phinney is urging area residents to write each City Council member to stick to the $2.5 million recommendation.

Steve Shay may be reached at steves@robinsonnews.com