An entity associated with Charter School Finance & Development in Schaumburg, Ill., has acquired property at 4801 Franklin Ave., which once was a junior high school and later a church, Polk County real estate records show.

New Plan Learning, doing business as 4801 Des Moines LLC, paid Iowa Trust & Savings Bank $3.3 million for the 12-acre site that includes the former Franklin Junior High School that was open between 1951 and 1979. New Plan Learning acquired the property from Iowa Trust & Savings Bank.

The property, which at one time was home to First Federated Church, had been owned by developer Jeff Young, a local developer who in 2020 pleaded guilty to fraud charges related to underreporting the amount he paid for several automobiles. Young redeveloped the property, which now includes Horizon Science Academy and offices for several nonprofit groups and the Franklin Events Center.

Iowa Trust & Savings Bank acquired the property in March through a legal process known as deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, real estate records show. The process allows a borrower to voluntarily give the deed of a property to a lender to avoid formal foreclosure proceedings.

Officials with New Plan Learning did not immediately respond to questions related to their plans for the property, which is valued at $2.8 million.

The transaction was recorded Oct. 30.

In other transactions:

Shepherds Grove LLC, an entity located in Council Bluffs, paid Third & Collins Properties LLC $6 million for property at 7368 NE Berwick Drive in Ankeny, Polk County real estate records show. The 65-acre parcel includes a mobile home park with just over 110 pads. The property is valued at $2.6 million. The transaction was recorded Oct. 27.

Brandon Brown paid the Karl Knock Trust and Janet Knock Trust $1.2 million for property at 120 SW Fifth St. in Des Moines, records show. The residence is in the Whiteline Lofts, a nine-story, downtown building that was built in 1913 and originally housed a tire factory. The building was converted to residential lofts in 2005. The transaction was recorded Oct. 28.

Kurt and Ryann Frietas paid Roark Contracting LLC $1.9 million for property at 11924 Meadow Spring Drive in Johnston, records show. The property includes a recently built 3,171-square-foot house. The transaction was recorded Oct. 30.

Dallas County

South Community Developers LC, located in West Des Moines, paid Hope Development & Realty LLC $1.8 million for 19 residential building lots in Hope Meadows Plat 2 in Grimes, Dallas County real estate records show. The development is south of West First Street and east of Southwest County Line Road/Y Avenue. The transaction was recorded Oct. 27.