NEWSROOM

With budget dollars tight in both public education and real estate development, the time for public-private partnerships on school and college campuses has finally arrived. The joining of town-and-gown to develop campus real estate assets can result in enhanced revenues for educational districts, improved curriculum for students, and feasible project costs for developers.

Many metropolitan K-12 school districts have lower enrollments than in past years, resulting in excess land holdings. Public schools are often well-endowed with land; in California the typical elementary school rests upon 12 acres, and the average high school uses 50 acres of land.

In addition, community colleges nationwide often have surplus property, having been endowed in an era of cheap land, or even with agricultural aspirations in mind. One can still find strawberry fields or horse pastures attached to some community colleges. Despite their histories, many such colleges have been absorbed into suburban neighborhoods, in regions that are short of housing. Meanwhile, enrollment in community colleges is rising nationwide, due to students seeking re-training for alternate careers during the recession, tighter admission standards at four-year institutions, or the lower costs of community colleges in comparison to traditional four-year schools.

In the past, school administrators have been loath to exploit their surplus land, for reasons ranging from their traditional mission, to community relations, to lack of experience, to having adequate budgets without the risks of real-estate development. After all, most people do not choose a career in public education to become property developers. As budget dollars become scarcer and developable urban land commands a premium, these attitudes are changing.

Private developers are also interested in pursuing partnerships. They are now in search of opportunities that do not require as much debt-financing as earlier in this decade. Obviously, schools and colleges, with their debt-free property in hand, are the ideal development partners of our time. So after years of inertia, there is more forward motion on public-private development of school lands than at any time in the past two decades.

K-12 school district administrators with surplus properties are willing to negotiate land sales for mixed-use retail development such as neighborhood grocery stores, shops, and restaurants.

At the community college level, a wider set of options are being contemplated. Community colleges are considering student, faculty and senior housing, and mixed-use retail centers as more suitable developments. Community college administrators are especially interested in projects that promise steady revenues through long-term ground leases.

In California, the grass-roots "pro-development" efforts of various community college administrators received a boost with the recent appointment of former State Senator Jack Scott to the Chancellorship of the California Community College System. Scott is a known advocate of community colleges deriving revenue from land assets. Given the national nature of troubled public budgets, the leadership of Scott will be closely watched by community colleges across the country, for clues as to what is doable.

While financial concerns may be paramount in some regards, the good news is that the rewards of property development are not only monetary in nature to school and developer. Such programs can also enrich campus curriculums, increase student and faculty enrollment, and provide private-sector employers with skilled workers.

A recent example is a senior housing facility that was built on part of a strawberry field on the campus of Cerritos College, a community college in Southern California. There were immediate positive results for all parties: seniors obtain housing, an investor receives steady income (much of it through federal housing programs), and the community college receives rental payments.

In addition to those positives, Cerritos College students are now taking classes in geriatrics and nutrition and they gain real-world, on-the-job experience by working in the senior-housing facility. Additionally, Cerritos College music students gained an audience-seniors-right on campus. No doubt, the seniors enjoy all the attention, and senior-housing facilities have a steady flow of somewhat experienced workers (the graduating students) to employ.

Looking forward, school administrators say there may be opportunities for public-private initiatives to develop "green" campuses, through high school and collegiate curriculums. Imagine students being exposed to the real-world crafts of weather-stripping, installing insulating windows, or activating HVAC systems, within the context of public-private partnerships. Consider the possibility that students will be able to observe first-hand in the installation of green materials in interiors, or become LEED specialists by meaningful participation in on-campus construction and renovation-all skills that students can take with them to the private sector after graduation.

If executed thoughtfully and carefully, public-private development holds the promise of not only enriching school and college budgets, but also augmenting school and college curriculums in many positive ways.