Posts about DRES

The city paid the developer half a million dollars in a legal settlement after Mayor Williams bungled the sale last time around, not seeking Council approval. Judging by online editorials and comments made at the meeting, homeless advocates, preservationists, and education advocates are united against the surplus action.

I myself testified on behalf of educational uses of the building, asking city officials whether they understand the public benefits of a downtown school. (I was a co-founder of a charter school that applied to use the Franklin School building and was rejected.)

Understandably, the renovation costs are high and the space is not ideally suited for young children. But that does not mean that the building could not house a high school, UDC law school, or some other educational facility that would honor the legacy of Cluss and draw students from all over the city to a flagship building in a central location. Regardless of which public use is determined to be best, we need a more thoughtful and transparent analysis before the city moves forward with the plan to surplus Franklin.

The historic protection of the building's interior and exterior and the many years of neglect will surely drive the renovation costs even higher. Seeking a private entity to take on the risk and covert the building to a revenue-generating use is understandable. So has someone run the numbers to show what the revenue stream will be net of tax abatements? Did the city have estimates of renovation costs (and did they share them with prospective bidders before the last Request for Offers)? Does the city have estimates of net employment and revenues that will be created by the best commercial use? These numbers would help DRES and DMPED make their case more than assertions about it being "costly" to renovate and that other uses are "not viable."

Someone described schools to me as "non-revenue generating" uses, but what about income and property tax revenue generated by residents who choose these schools over Montgomery County or Fairfax County schools and bid up the value of DC real estate? It's hard to know whether such revenues are a major or minor factor until you run the numbers.

A central location for a school is something that cannot be replicated by locating schools on the fringes of the city, as is now being done with many charter schools. A central location like Franklin Square provides a unique opportunity to draw students from all four quadrants to a racially and economically integrated school, and one whose stunning historic facade could house a flagship facility that would have symbolic value for the city. Has DRES or DCPS come up with a different site that could accomplish this?

What about the homeless? Has the city demonstrated that the savings from surplusing this building will make it possible to serve the needs of displaced homeless men somewhere else? Mayor Fenty asserted that this was the case when he closed the shelter two years ago. Perhaps the analysis is sitting out there somewhere and I haven't found it. If anyone has economic analysis supporting uses or alternative uses of the building, I'll update this post with links.

This past summer, the Studio School, itself struggling to enroll even 80 students per year in a building that takes up the better part of a city block, voluntarily relinquished its charter, making it ineligible to continue its lease.

DC has had a string of historic school buildings that, for one reason or another, have not been awarded to charter schools that applied or hoped to apply, despite the law on the books that charters have the right of first offer on these properties.

Grimke Elementary on Vermont Ave. near U St. NW was supposed to be repurposed from its current "temporary" use as housing for city fire and EMS offices, but the city kept the offices there when two charter schools applied, later awarding it to a revered museum that had long sought the building.

Gales School at 65 Mass Ave. NW and Franklin School on 13th at K Sts. NW were being used as homeless shelters until they were closed in recent years. They are all likely headed for uses other than K-12 public education, with Central Union Mission vying for Gale School and the UDC law school rumored to be in line for Franklin.

M.M. Washington at 27 O St. NW is another of these buildings. This one will be developed for senior housing. Stevens Elementary on 21st St. NW was also closed by DCPS but it went to private developers for housing. Hine Junior High School at 335 8th St. SE, with somewhat less historic architecture, lies right near Eastern Market. I'm not sure if that site was ever offered to charters, but it was awarded to a private developer as well.

Based on the recent history, the "right of first offer" hasn't done much for the charter sector in DC. Does this mean charters will have to locate wherever private market rents or developments costs are low, such on the edges of the city away from transit?

That's not a great choice for schools that aspire to be citywide magnets. Let's hope the Harrison RFO gets a genuine review and in the future we can look forward to kids walking and taking transit instead of riding in buses and private cars to school or attending overcrowded temporary facilities in basements and trailers.

Full disclosure: My wife and I are co-founders and parents at one of the schools that has responded to the RFO. We also share a property line with the Harrison building, so we have a clear stake in the outcome.