LISC Charter School Financing Uses Innovative Refinancing Structure to Support Charter School Hampered by COVID
Harlem Village Academy West Lower Elementary (HVA), also known as the Leon H. Gray Elementary, educates students from pre-K to second grade. HVA is deeply committed to progressive education while emphatically embracing a sense of urgency, a strong work ethic, and accountability for student learning. HVA is one of two Harlem-based schools associated with the Village Academies Network, a charter management organization established in 2003. HVA students academically outperform peers at the district and state levels, and the class of 2019 had a 100% four-year graduation and college acceptance rate. Almost 100% of students are minorities and over 80% are economically disadvantaged. Harlem Village Academy West has 975 students during the 2021 school year.
The LISC Charter School Financing Team is providing a $10.4 million loan to Harlem Village Academy West. The loan refinances existing NMTC financing, which closed in 2013 and funded the gut renovation of Harlem Village Academy West’s elementary school facility located at 74 West 124th Street, in New York, NY. LISC and Chase Bank participated in that NMTC financing. While HVA originally planned to repay much of the balance of these loans with philanthropic support, COVID left the school unable to host their annual fundraising event and needing to conserve cash. This uniquely structured loan allows the school to avoid using its cash to make debt service payments for much of the loan term.