New York City Regional Center Provides $15 Million for Bronx Charter School Expansion

The New York City Regional Center announced the closing of $15 million in New Market Tax Credit financing for the Charter School for Law and Social Justice in the Bronx. This transaction represents the eleventh charter school in New York City to utilize funding from a New York City Regional Center-managed entity and the eighth such school in the Bronx specifically. The financing will support the renovation of a six-story, 39,417 square foot building that will house a new middle school and community day care center.

The middle school facility will accommodate 330 students and feature classrooms, a cafeteria, and double-height ceilings on part of the fifth and sixth floors for a multi-purpose gymnasium. The day care center, covering 8,916 square feet of the middle school building, will be leased to Sunshine Learning Center and will serve approximately 160 children from infancy through kindergarten. Additionally, the financing will provide working capital reimbursements for an existing 47,300 square foot high school run by the Charter School for Law and Social Justice that currently serves 505 students. This capital infusion furthers the charter school's mission to address the needs of underserved communities in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx.

The $15 million transaction utilized a portion of a previous $45 million New Market Tax Credit award from the U.S. Department of Treasury to NYCR-CDE, a Community Development Entity managed by New York City Regional Center. Since 2016, NYCR-CDE has received seven separate annual tax credit awards totaling $315 million. The New Market Tax Credit Program was created by Congress in 2000 to stimulate private investment and economic growth in low-income neighborhoods and rural communities that lack access to capital. Historically, low-income communities have difficulty attracting investment, and this program aims to break the cycle of disinvestment by providing federal income tax credits to investors in exchange for making equity investments in low-income neighborhoods.

Previous fundings through NYCRC-managed entities include construction of the National Urban League's new headquarters in Harlem, redevelopment of the Major Owens Community Center in Brooklyn, and expansion of St. John's Episcopal Hospital Center in Far Rockaway. The organization has also funded nine charter schools including $23 million for DREAM in the South Bronx, $20 million for Achievement First Linden Middle School in Brooklyn, and $15 million for Comp Sci High in the Bronx. According to program data, for every $1 invested by the federal government, the New Market Tax Credit Program awards have generated $8 of private investment.

The Charter School for Law and Social Justice, founded in 2015, provides an inclusive educational program that prepares students academically while empowering them to engage in social issues. The school was inspired by initiatives at New York Law School led by Professor Richard Marsico, whose work on the school-to-prison pipeline and the Street Law Program highlighted the need for educational institutions focused on law and social justice. The school emphasizes community engagement through partnerships with local groups, mentoring programs with law students and attorneys, community service projects related to social justice, and extended support for English language learners and students with special needs.

Over the past 17 years, New York City Regional Center has deployed $1.58 billion of EB-5 capital and $315 million of New Market Tax Credit capital across 42 projects throughout New York City. These investments have assisted in the construction of over 6.9 million square feet of new development and renovation as well as critical infrastructure initiatives. The organization was the first EB-5 regional center approved in New York City and has enabled over 6,000 individuals from 24 different countries to become permanent residents of the United States through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. Since its establishment in 2000, the New Market Tax Credit Program has directed $81 billion in investments to low-income communities, resulting in the construction or rehabilitation of approximately 259 million square feet of commercial real estate nationwide.