We haven’t confirmed any of this yet, but a couple of different people in attendance for tonight’s meeting of the Colonial School Board have told MoreThanTheCurve.com that the school district has made an offer to purchase the Romano property at the corner of Belvoir and Gallagher Roads in Plymouth Meeting.

The property is currently a bus depot and an open field. The property owners have recently sought to redevelop the property first with townhomes and then with two warehouses. Both proposals were met with resistance from Plymouth Township.

If the offer is accepted, the Colonial School District would lease the bus depot portion of the property to the current tenant First Student. The unused portion of the property would provide an option for a new school if the need arises.

UPDATE – The school district just released information about the potential purchase of the Romano property. It confirms everything we reported above:

At their public business meeting on July 18, the Colonial Board of School Directors unanimously approved the submission of a Term Sheet outlining the proposed conditions of the District’s purchase of the Romano property located at 1065 Belvoir Road in Plymouth Township. With the approval, the Board has authorized the District solicitor to negotiate an agreement of sale consistent with the provisions of the term.
 
If and when a sale is finalized, the District will continue to use the property as a bus depot in a lease agreement with First Student, its current transportation provider. Through that agreement, the District expects the property to pay for itself in approximately 40 years, given an estimated cost of $6.85 million. The purchase would also give the District valuable property which could be used to address future enrollment expansion.
 
A District purchase of the property would also help to preserve open space. One proposed use of the nearly 24-acre plot is a development with up to 100 housing units.

More to come.