The Fort Wayne Urban League will begin discussions with a local developer over renovating a building for a new charter school.
Urban League board members voted Tuesday to sign a letter of intent with Equity Capital Partners LLC, a Fort Wayne investment firm interested in renovating a former school in southeast Fort Wayne.
The letter of intent is non-binding, meaning the Urban League has no obligation to enter into a contract with the developer.
Urban League officials also used the meeting to create a committee called the Urban League School Board Committee, which has authority to make certain decisions about the school.
The board will revisit the role of the committee at its next board meeting, when it will also make relevant amendments to the non-profit’s bylaws.
In December, the Indiana Charter School Board approved the creation of the Thurgood Marshall Leadership Academy, a social justice-themed school overseen by the Fort Wayne Urban League and run by American Quality Schools Corp.
The Urban League, which hopes to establish the school in the former Village Woods Middle School, has been looking for a developer to buy the building, which is owned by Salin Bank, and provide needed upgrades.
The school board advertised for bids but received only one. Equity Capital Partners LLC will work with design-builder Michael Kinder & Sons Inc. on the building’s construction.
Charter school board members thought they would receive a bid from HighMark, a developer that often partners with American Quality Schools, but AQS decided to pull out because of concerns about timing, Urban League CEO Jonathan Ray said.
“They were concerned about the process and how quickly we were going to make decisions, so based on that, they decided not to make a bid,” he said.
In a letter of intent, Equity Capital Partners LLC proposed the Urban League pay a base rent of $330,000 in the first year, moving up to $400,000 in years 6 through 10. At the end of the fifth year of the lease, the non-profit could opt to buy the building for $2 million.
The base rent would include many building improvements, but special projects, such as installing air conditioning or upgrading windows, would cost more.
Urban League board members raised questions about the financial implications of moving forward with the school. The board expressed the need for an aggressive marketing campaign to attract at least 400 students – the figure needed to make the budget work.
They said the Urban League’s financial committee would need additional conversations with Equity Capital, including how to move forward with a five-year contract instead of a 10-year contract.
When the school was approved, it was granted a five-year charter, subject to termination if the school doesn’t meet certain academic standards.