City green lights $20m school expansion plan

Real Estate Weekly, August 4, 2004

New York City Industrial Development Agency approved The Pratt Institute and Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School for financing assistance that will enable them to expand services and improve facilities.

Charmer Industries Inc., a Queens-based distributor of wines and spirits, was also approved for sales and real estate tax benefits in connection with a renovation project.

The IDA Board agreed to provide Pratt Institute up to $19.8 million in Civic Facility Bonds and a mortgage recording tax waiver of $544,500 to build a 15,000-square-foot book and art supply store.

The new store will replace its current 3,500 s/f store and allow the school to dramatically increase its services and inventory. The project also includes plans to build a three-story, 27,000 s/f addition to connect the north and south wings of Higgins Hall, which houses its School of Architecture.

Located on Pratt's Brooklyn campus, the project's costs are estimated at $20 million. Pratt offers undergraduate and graduate programs in art, design and architecture, and information and library science. In addition to its Brooklyn campus, the school offers night and graduate programs at its Manhattan campus. It has an enrollment of over 4,000 and a full-time staff of 435 and 881 part-time employees. This project will create an additional seven full-time jobs.

Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School requested IDA assistance to acquire a 5,375-square-foot building a block from its school at 5 West 93rd Street in Manhattan. IDA approved up to $5 million in Civic Facility Bonds for the $5.2 million project.

The new facility to be built at 36 West 94th Street will house the school's pre-kindergarten class and two administrative units to provide more space in its existing buildings for other grades and improve programs and services. Access to tax-exempt financing will also enable Columbia Grammar to continue to provide financial aid for students and meet increasing demand for enrollment in its kindergarten class. The project will allow Columbia Grammar to add 10 employees to its staff of 215.

The school was founded in 1764 to prepare boys for enrollment in Kings College, the predecessor of Columbia University.

Today the school offers a comprehensive academic college preparatory curriculum for nearly 1,000 co-ed students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade that results in a 97 percent college attendance rate for its graduating seniors.

A family-owned wine and spirits distributor, Charmer Industries, received preliminary approval for up to $5.8 million in real estate and sales tax benefits over 25 years in connection with renovations of its warehouse facility on three city blocks in Astoria, Queens.

The company is also expected to qualify for five years of discounted energy service under the Business Incentive Program worth approximately $236,000. Project costs are estimated to be $1.8 million.

Founded in 1933, the company is currently run by its founder's grandchildren and is one of the largest of its kind in New York City. Charmer Industries distributes more than 10,000 products in 17 states to 8,000 customers.