Building Hope
Building Hope specializes in a comprehensive range of facilities, financial, and operational services to charter schools nationwide. The organization has funded over $280 million to support over $1.7 billion in school construction projects.
Open process / apply anytime
Loan size (range, $): $100K-$15M
Current portfolio (total $; #): n/a
Cost share (equity) required: No
Collateral required: No
Standard CDFI due diligence
Building Hope was established in 2003 to provide students in Washington, DC with access to quality public charter schools by tackling one of the key barriers to charter school growth: identifying and financing viable facilities. Today Building Hope is a non-profit with affiliates operating nationally in support of charter school facilities development.
Building Hope offers a range of comprehensive facilities financing and related development services:
- Building Hope Finance: This service unit assists in purchasing land, building new facilities, and renovating leased or owned facilities by offering direct loans and credit enhancements. In addition to direct financing of building projects, Building Hope is licensed as a Registered Municipal Advisor and can advise schools on complex bond financing.
- Building Hope Real Estate This division supports in developing new turnkey charter school facilities by offering project management services including visioning, site identification and procurement, project financing, and design and construction.
- Building Hope Services: This unit provides back-office accounting and administrative assistance to support charter school operations.
Building Hope’s Charter Support Unit: This technical assistance division offers a range of short-term, intensive, and targeted support including regular instructional webinars, facilities planning, maintaining an archive of sample documents and templates, and operating a hotline for one-to-one consultations. This unit also offers technical assistance to public charter schools on a pro-bono basis.
Focus Areas:
Geographies: Nationwide; core geographies of Washington, DC, Florida, and Texas; manages a fund for rural communities and many place-based initiatives (investment areas include Idaho and Nevada); does not lend in Indian Country
Sectors: Charter school specialist
Schools: Start-up and established schools; preference is given to new schools (operating less than three years) and/or those with at least 50% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch; often collaborates with emerging charter school networks
Ingenuity Prep Public Charter School (Washington, DC)
Ingenuity Prep, Washington, DC’s first charter school organized around blended-learning principles, opened its first campus in 2013 to serve 108 students in Pre-K through kindergarten at an incubator space located at PR Harris, an education center in Southeast Washington, DC. In 2014 Ingenuity Prep received authorization to increase its student population and needed more space to do so. Building Hope was able to acquire an additional 14,600 square feet at PR Harris for Ingenuity Prep to lease. Improvements to the additional space cost $3.6 million and were completed in two phases, resulting in cumulative space of 22,500 square feet to accommodate 319 students in Pre-K through second grade.
Operating schools are evaluated based on their financial and academic results compared with other public schools serving similar populations. New/start-up schools are evaluated on their proposed curriculum. Regardless of whether the school is existing or new, schools are also evaluated on the experience and strength of their leaders and board, financial projections, enrollment plans, community support and specific transaction details.