Eastridge Privately Developing, Funding Public High School

SACRAMENTO-The Eastridge Companies closed this week on an agreement to privately develop and finance a new $58-million high school in northern Sacramento.

Already under construction, the 212,000-sf Inderkum High School in North Sacramento is among the first educational facilities in California to be built using a true private delivery system, sometimes referred to as a lease leaseback agreement, under California Education Code §17406. To complete the facility by August 2004, the Natomas Unified School District authorized funds to break ground on the project in September 2002 while negotiations on the lease leaseback agreement continued.

The lease leaseback agreement will free up $50 million in capital for the district to pursue other critically needed projects by leveraging off a tax-exempt, lease revenue bond issuance structured by TEC. The cost of funds is less than 2%, so the benefits of this low-cost financing are passed on to the district, according to TEC, which closed on the financing May 8.