SunTrust Lends $141 Million for Construction of DC Private School
By Christina sturdivant-Sani November 14, 2018 1:28 pm
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Georgetown Day School has secured $141 million in financing from SunTrust Bank’s education practice group for its new 155,000-square-foot campus, according to a press release from the co-ed private school in Washington, D.C.
The construction loan will go toward uniting two campuses—the school’s most significant building project in its 70-year history, per the release.
“At Georgetown Day School, we believe that each young person is unique and has special gifts, which we strive to nurture,” Jeff Houser, the school’s CFO, said in a prepared statement. “This expansion will enable us to bring the entire Georgetown Day School community together, while also increasing enrollment to help additional students identify and grow their individual talents.”
The lower and middle schools are currently located at 4530 MacArthur Boulevard NW and the high school is four miles away at 4200 Davenport Street NW. In 2014, the school acquired the site of a Safeway grocery store near the high school campus, where a new lower/middle school is slated to open by September 2020.
The project includes the creation of a separate wing for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students, collaborative spaces for students in grades 1 through 8, a technology commons area, indoor and outdoor learning spaces, a soccer field and a 4,800-square-foot flexible performing arts space.
The development was “a natural fit” for SunTrust as an extension of its long-standing relationship with the school, Jill Fields, a senior vice president at SunTrust, told Commercial Observer. The bank also considered the school’s strong market profile and the bank’s “unique ability to design a custom solution,” said Fields, who would not disclose the terms of the loan.
