DISTRICT VIEWS SALE; PROPERTIES MAY FETCH MILLIONS FOR SCHOOLS.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

Simi Valley school board members are being asked to consider selling three district-owned properties to raise millions of dollars for capital improvements.

School officials say that if the trustees agree to the sale, the properties will sell quickly because of a promising upturn in local real estate values - especially for commercial land.

``We haven't gone out to the public with any of this. People are calling me, asking when are we going to sell some stuff,'' said Dave Kanthak, assistant superintendent of business services.

The properties include Arroyo Elementary School, one of four closed school buildings still owned by the district. That sale would be significant, officials say, because it would affect how the district revises attendance boundaries for its 19,000 students.

Trustees also will consider selling the Wood Ranch Conference Center, which Kanthak said is a hot property because of existing plans to continue developing residential neighborhoods around the facility.

But the third property - 36 acres on the northeast corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Alamo Street - has drawn the most interest. It may also be the property with the most commercial potential, considering the construction now under way and proposed for the area.

By next July, the city's new $10 million police station on the northwest corner of the intersection is expected to be operating.

And in July, Selleck Properties filed plans to build a 170,000-square-foot shopping center and 16-screen cinema on the southwest corner.

Also, on Wednesday, the Planning Commission will consider a proposal by the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan to build a 23,716-square-foot medical office building next to the Selleck project on the south side of Alamo Street.

Although Kanthak said assessments of all eight of the district's surplus properties won't be available until mid-November, a market analysis in 1995 showed that if the 36-acre parcel was sold for residential use it could fetch as much as $4 million.

The land is now being leased for $6,000 a year by John Forneris, who grows produce that he sells on site.

Money generated from the sale of surplus property can only be used for capital expenditures and improvements of facilities. Kanthak said about $2 million is needed to upgrade the district's 26 school buildings.

``We have rooms where there are insufficient electrical outlets,'' he said. ``I would like to see that be a very high priority.''

While he doesn't know what type of development might be proposed for the 36 acres, Kanthak said one of the 10 inquiries he's received indicated interest in building an ice rink.

But whatever is proposed, it must pass muster with city officials, who are keen to develop a civic center for the sprawling city of 105,000.

In 1992 the city rejected a proposal by the school district and two developers to build a 196,000-square-foot shopping center on 26-acres of the land. Council members said the project was not compatible with the city's general plan.

As a goodwill gesture, in June of this year school Trustees Caesar Julian and Janice DiFatta met with City Council members to discuss the best ways to develop the property.

At the time, DiFatta said school trustees wanted to cooperate with city officials because ``they have an interest in the property whether they own it or not.''

The school board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road, Simi Valley.