A new charter school is set to occupy the former site of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The academy closed its doors last June due to low enrollment and financial struggles, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
The Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School has signed a 15-year lease for 77,000 square feet at 5902 Sixth Avenue. The landlord, Redemptorist Fathers of New York, previously leased the space to the Catholic academy.
Charter school expansion is underway in the area. The new location is expected to open next fall and will feature a 16,000-square-foot gymnasium, cafeteria, 7,600-square-foot auditorium, and outdoor recreation areas.
The school launched its New York operations in 2012 with a middle school in Crown Heights and began accepting high school students last year.
Asking rent for the lease was not disclosed, but the average asking rent for office space in the neighborhood was $26.43 per square foot in the second quarter, according to the outlet. The lease was negotiated by Open Impact Real Estate’s Jake Cinti and Eshaan Gandhi, who represented the tenant, and a Cushman & Wakefield team, including Frank Liantonio, Jason Kroger, and Jonathan Squires, who represented the landlord.
Liantonio noted that “purpose-built educational facilities of this scale rarely become available in Brooklyn, making this a highly unique leasing opportunity.”
The Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School has yet to expand into 11th- and 12th-grade enrollment, but its growth into the high school ranks is a significant step forward.
The neighborhood has seen significant investment in recent years, including a $42.5 million loan provided by Daryl Hagler to save a megaproject from foreclosure at 6128 Eighth Avenue. While little progress has been publicly reported on that project since then, the arrival of the charter school is a notable development in the area, especially for local real estate investors.
Redemptorist Fathers of New York previously leased the space to the Catholic academy, and now they have leased it to the charter school.
The school’s new location will open next fall.
