Conroe City Council voted Jan. 6 to accept a staff recommendation to sell 5.67 acres that include the former Sam Houston Elementary School to the Overland Group for $4,300,000, contingent on the buyer securing outside grant funding.

The sale drew a full public discussion earlier in the meeting, and the council recessed to executive session before returning to the dais and voting. City staff recommended the Overland Group after reviewing two offers, and staff said the sale agreement includes a condition that the property will revert to the city if the purchaser does not obtain the funding it is seeking.

Why it matters: The property is a long-discussed, high-profile site in downtown Conroe that community members and arts advocates have sought to preserve or repurpose. Council approval moves the city closer to a negotiated transaction but leaves the final outcome dependent on the buyer's ability to win competitive state grant funding.

What the council did: During the open meeting following executive session, a staff presentation summarized the offers and recommended the Overland Group for $4.3 million. The council then voted on a motion to accept that recommendation. The motion passed; the official vote was recorded in open session as "Aye" with no roll-call tally published in the minutes beyond the chair calling the motion carried.

The council also unanimously approved a separate resolution expressing the city's support of the Overland Group's application to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for grant funding to complete the project. City staff and the mayor emphasized that the contract and resolution are contingent on the buyer receiving competitive state grant funds.

Public comment and background: Multiple speakers during the citizens' inquiry portion urged preservation of the building for arts uses and criticized the process and timeline for considering sales or redevelopment. A presenter and multiple members of the public referenced past studies and fundraising estimates for converting the school to a performance-arts facility; one commenter repeated a previously cited feasibility study figure of roughly $20 million to $24 million to renovate the existing building and recalled earlier fundraising estimates that approached $30 million.

What happens next: The purchase agreement is contingent on the buyer's grant award. City staff said if Overland does not receive the grant funds, the property will remain on the market. Council members said they will continue conversations with other interested parties and monitor the state grant competition.

Votes at a glance: The council made two related formal approvals on Jan. 6: approval of the contingent sales contract (motion carried) and a resolution supporting the Overland Group's grant application (motion carried). Neither action completed an immediate transfer of title; both are explicitly contingent on outside funding.

Sources: Staff presentation to Conroe City Council; public comments made during citizens' inquiry; council vote in open session.