• Innovative Public/Private Development Partnership Makes It Possible
• First New D.C. Public School Built in 20 Years

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 14, 2002) — The new James F. Oyster Bilingual Elementary School, constructed at no cost to taxpayers through an innovative, community-initiated public/private development partnership, opened in Washington today. The facility is the first new District of Columbia public school to be built in the last 20 years.

After receiving a ceremonial key to the new facility at a community event featuring a chorus of singing Oyster School students, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Superintendent Paul L. Vance said, “The Oyster School reconstruction is a giant first step forward in our system-wide facility modernization program. It is a perfect example of what can be accomplished when the whole community, including parents, local school staff, the neighborhood, the private sector, nonprofits and government all work together.”

The state-of-the-art Oyster School, home to a nationally recognized dual-language immersion program in English and Spanish, was constructed and financed through a public/private partnership between the DCPS and LCOR Incorporated, a national real estate firm specializing in public/private development. The public/private partnership was initiated and facilitated by the 21st Century School Fund, a D.C.-based nonprofit working to improve urban public school facilities.

School construction costs, financed by an $11-million, 35-year tax-exempt bond package issued by the District, will be repaid entirely from new revenue generated by an apartment building being developed by LCOR on land adjacent to the school. The land, previously part of the school site, was traded to LCOR under the partnership agreement. The net effect — D.C. taxpayers will incur no costs to build the new school.

LCOR Executive Vice President R. William Hard commended the school system and D.C. government officials for “embracing the innovative financing plan that made the new school possible, and for accepting the rewards and trade-offs that accompany a genuine public/private partnership.”

“Leadership is required to bring public/private partnerships to life, and District officials demonstrated as much with their commitment to this project, including their willingness to unlock the value of an underutilized asset — in this case, land,” Hard said.

Mary Filardo, Executive Director of the 21st Century School Fund, acknowledged and thanked the community, including neighbors, and parents and students of the Oyster School, for their support of the new school construction and financing plan.

“Beginning in 1992, this community had the vision, determination and dedication needed to make this partnership work,” Filardo said. “We developed a solution that fit the unique needs and maximized the available assets of the Oyster community, resulting in a partnership where everyone benefits.”

She added: “While public/private development partnerships are not a cure-all for the lack of public school construction funds, they will continue to be an important mechanism for generating revenue and contributing to economic growth. They’re also helpful in building momentum towards more sustainable, comprehensive capital improvement programs.”

Paquita Holland, Principal of the Oyster School, described the former facility as overcrowded and physically deteriorating. “The old building was a barrier to providing Oyster’s diverse educational experience, including the dual-language immersion program, and special education, physical education, arts and other programs,” Holland said. “The new building is a dream come true for our students, our teachers and our program.”

The new Oyster School, located at Calvert and 29th Streets, Northwest, in Washington’s Woodley Park neighborhood, replaced a building constructed in 1926 on the same site. The new school is 47,158 square feet, with a computer lab, library, gym and classrooms designed to accommodate the school’s bilingual education program. The facility also includes office space for the after-school programs that had been housed in a converted closet. Many spaces in the school will be available for community use.

The multifamily residential building being constructed on land adjacent to the school will have 211 units. With a mix of efficiency, one- and two-bedroom apartments, the elegant building, known as Henry Adams House, will open this fall at a cost of $29 million. The building will be owned by a joint venture of LCOR and Northwestern Mutual Life, and be managed by LCOR.

The 21st Century School Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to build the public will and capacity to modernize urban public school facilities. The organization developed from work on the Oyster School project and the D.C. Public Schools long-range facility master plan. The 21st Century School Fund is supported by the Ford Foundation, the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation and the Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. For more information on the 21st Century School Fund, visit www.21csf.org.

LCOR is a national real estate firm specializing in public/private development. With nine offices, including a regional office in Bethesda, Md., LCOR’s portfolio includes approximately $10 billion of developments either completed, under construction or in pre-development. In the Washington, D.C. area, LCOR is proceeding with plans to develop a $500 million town-center style project at the White Flint Metrorail station in North Bethesda, and the new 2.4 million-square-foot headquarters of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va., among other projects.