{"id":4144,"date":"2012-01-11T13:58:14","date_gmt":"2012-01-11T18:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=4144"},"modified":"2012-01-13T14:52:51","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T19:52:51","slug":"real-estate-investors-find-market-in-charter-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/01\/11\/real-estate-investors-find-market-in-charter-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Estate Investors Find Market in Charter Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sarah Gonzalez \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p>

The Academy of Arts and Minds in Coconut Grove used to be a shopping mall. But no one was buying space, so the owner of the property founded a charter school and now rents his property to his school. The campus still looks like a shopping mall. There are wrap-around balconies on every floor and the classrooms have floor-to-ceiling windows very much like a store front.<\/p><\/div>\n

Real estate investment firms have spied a new market in charter schools and are snatching up properties anticipating growth, according to Bloomberg<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among the industry leaders is a fund founded by former tennis star and charter school advocate Andre Agassi<\/a>. Perhaps the most interesting nugget from the piece is this: Leasing charter schools property is more lucrative than commercial property:<\/p>\n

For Entertainment Properties, the charter-school investment yield is 9 percent to 10 percent, according to Keith Bokota, an analyst at Principal Global Investors. That compares with November\u2019s 7 percent average capitalization rate for commercial- property deals of more than $5 million, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc., a New York-based property research company.<\/p>\n

The Canyon-Agassi Charter School\u2019s Facilities Fund appeals to investors seeking a good return on their money while doing something positive for education, said Glenn Pierce, its chief executive officer. Investors in the Los Angeles-based fund — which lists Citigroup Inc., Intel Corp. (INTC)<\/a>, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the University of Michigan<\/a> among its backers — can expect yields in the \u201clow teens after fees,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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