Jim Thorpe Area School District has agreed to sell its administration building to a local company.

Sargent Holdings LLC, of Jim Thorpe, received approval from the school board for its offer to purchase the building at 410 Center Ave.

The sale price is $399,000.

While the building has been on the market for several months, the sale was a last-minute addition to the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting.

“We’re selling the district office. We have an offer. Everything is done,” said Paul Montemuro, a Jim Thorpe school board member.

School administrators moved their offices to a wing of the Jim Thorpe Area High School last year. The Carbon County Commissioners were set to buy the building for $517,000 last August, but ultimately withdrew their offer.

The district received an offer from Sargent Wednesday afternoon after representatives from the company toured the building, and ultimately agreed to the sale price. They did not attend the meeting.

Superintendent John Rushefski said that the district will actually receive $400,000 from the sale, because the Realtor who brokered the sale is waiving a portion of his commission. Rushefski said that was the minimum price the school board was willing to consider for the building.

The building is located in the R-3 medium-density residential district. It served as a junior high school until the early 2000s. Since then, it housed administrative offices.

Rushefski said Sargent discussed using the building as apartments or offices.

Brian Sargent, owner of Sargent Holdings, said that the plans for the building are still in the works. But like the Bevan Building across town, he wants to orient the use toward the community. That likely includes making the gymnasium and conference room in the building available to the public.

“Our business is based in Jim Thorpe, we have a strong connection to Jim Thorpe. We see that building presenting a number of opportunities,” he said.

Sargent already owns and manages the Bevan Building, a former school located at 616 North St. The tenants in that building include agencies serving people with autism and behavioral health needs.

The building was constructed in 1936 and originally served as the Mauch Chunk Junior Senior High School. It served as the district offices for more than a decade.

The district had been leasing space in the building to the Carbon County Commissioners as county government buildings underwent renovation. In August, the commissioners submitted their offer to buy the building. But after residents raised concerns about the cost to renovate the building, they voted to withdraw the offer.

The vote to sell the building to Sargent was 7-1, with Glenn Confer voting against, and Pearl Downs-Sheckler absent.

Glenn Confer voted against the sale of the building. He said the district should give it away for $1

Rushefski said that it will take about 60 days to finalize the sale. The district must get court approval to sell any real estate under state law.

Montemuro said that the district hopes to continue to use the gymnasium inside the building for its sports teams.

“Rumors are he might be leaving the gym open. We’ll find that out once the sale goes through,” Montemuro said.