Maimonides School finalizing deal to sell one of its buildings to real estate developer

The Maimonides School is finalizing a sale of one of its buildings to a developer who plans to turn it into a residential building.

In an email sent to parents on Feb. 5 which was shared with Brookline.News, the Jewish private school’s leaders said that they have entered into an agreement to sell their former elementary school building, known as the Brener Building, located at 2 Clark Road.

The 35,000 square foot building is located directly off Route 9, less than half a mile from Brookline High School.

The buyer is not identified in the email, but attorney Jeffrey Allen confirmed that he is representing the buyer, who he said is a Brookline resident.

The developer plans to reuse the current structure and convert the building for residential use, Allen said. He said he could not provide more details about the potential new use since plans are still being developed.

“When the plans are ready, the first people to see them will be the neighborhood,” Allen said.

Shimmy Trencher, the school’s executive director of community engagement, said that Maimonides is “looking forward to continued positive relationships with our neighbors and the Brookline community.”

The property is in a zoning district that currently allows for two-family dwellings, according to Christina Metcalf, a spokesperson for the town.

“Depending on how the potential buyer plans on using or redeveloping that property, they may need to seek zoning changes at a Town Meeting,” Metcalf said.

Maimonides stopped using the building in 2019 as its enrollment decreased, leasing it to the town until last year.

Enrollment has stabilized and the Maimonides student population is growing again, according to the email, but “moving back into the Brener Building ourselves does not make financial sense,” the school wrote to parents. Maimonides also considered renting to a new tenant, but decided against that path because of market conditions, maintenance costs and the building’s future capital needs, according to the email.

The sale is expected to be finalized in early April, and according to the Maimonides email, the proceeds will be “carefully invested for future campus development, facility improvements, new educational opportunities and large-scale strategic needs.”

The Modern Orthodox day school, founded in 1937, teaches students from early education until 12th grade.