Rochester Community Schools is weighing three competing proposals for its long-vacant Harrison Building, a 137-year-old structure downtown that could either be preserved as a community hub or torn down to make way for new housing. Two of the three plans submitted to the district would demolish the historic building, while a third calls for saving it, according to ClickOnDetroit.
Three Very Different Visions for 501 W. University Drive
The proposals submitted to Rochester Community Schools include a nonprofit community hub concept from the Harrison Community Resource Center, a 30-unit residential plan from Dominic J. Mocceri, LLC that would combine 15 townhomes with 15 single-family homes, and a 21-unit single-family home development from Robertson Brothers Co., according to the Harrison Center. The school board had asked developers and community groups to submit formal acquisition proposals by an August 31, 2026 deadline. The site itself spans roughly 4.34 acres in downtown Rochester and contains a three-story, 89,716-square-foot building zoned for residential use, per the Oakland County Times. The district officially issued its Request for Proposals for the property in July 2026.
Why the District Walked Away in the First Place
Rochester Community Schools vacated the building in August 2022 after purchasing a former office and warehouse facility on Dequindre Road for $7 million in 2021 to serve as its new administrative headquarters. The same outlet's reporting notes that the move let the district secure modern office space without sinking tens of millions of dollars into renovating the old site. That price tag was steep: a 2018 architectural assessment by Kingscott & Associates estimated renovating the Harrison Building to meet infrastructure, building code, and ADA compliance standards would cost between $21.2 million and $29.1 million, compared to $26.4 million to $31.4 million to demolish it and build new. Those repair estimates are what pushed district leaders to evaluate an alternative headquarters in the first place.
This is not the district's first attempt to offload the property. During a previous sale effort in 2022, Rochester Community Schools received seven purchase offers ranging from $0 to $2.1 million, all of which the school board rejected, the Oakland County Times reports. That rejection left the building sitting vacant until the board restarted the bidding process this year.
A Divided Board and a Preservation Push
The board's decision to try again wasn't unanimous. On May 18, 2026, the Rochester Community Schools Board of Education voted 5-2 to release a new public Request for Proposals for the property, with Board Treasurer Julie Alspach and Board Secretary Michelle Bueltel dissenting, according to C & G Newspapers. During that meeting, Board Vice President Jayson Blake argued the district needed to focus its resources on active student facilities rather than acting as historic preservationists or real estate speculators, according to Patch. Board leaders have emphasized that bond and millage funds are meant for operational student environments, not upkeep of an empty building.
Preservationists haven't given up their fight, though. In August 2026, the Harrison Center Project hosted a public town hall at the Rochester Community House to build community support for repurposing the building into a hub for youth programming, nonprofit offices, and cultural events, Patch reported. The group's strategy is centered on convincing the school board that the building's public community utility outweighs the case for residential demolition.
A Building With Roots Back to 1847
The property's educational history runs deep. A private academy was first built on the site in 1847, converted to a public school in 1857, then burned down in an 1888 fire before being replaced in 1889 by a schoolhouse designed by Michigan architect Claire Allen, according to Rochester Media. Allen went on to design several Michigan county courthouses and public schools across the state. That 1889 structure, the oldest of the three connected buildings making up the 89,000-square-foot complex, was officially listed on the Michigan Register of Historic Sites in 1987, though a state historic marker was never installed at the site, per C & G Newspapers.
With the board now weighing a nonprofit preservation vision against two developer plans that would clear the site for new homes, the outcome hinges on financial and community pressures pulling in opposite directions. Open questions remain around the specific purchase prices attached to each proposal and how the board will weigh public testimony before casting a final vote.
