Abstract: This brief examines the marriage of charter schools and housing developers. Increasingly, subdivision developers are including charter schools in their designs to increase housing sales and to lower controversy over where new children can go to public school. Several examples are included in the document. In 1997, the Miami-based Excel Development Corporation was one of the first builders to put a charter school in a housing development. Now it operates a chain of charter schools across the state. In Los Angeles, Rob MacLeod renovated the Sheraton Townhouse Hotel into affordable housing. The $18 million project includes 142 bedroom units for low-income families, stores, offices, and an on-site charter school. The author suggests that as partnerships between charter schools and housing developments continue, urban renewal and neighborhood revitalization initiatives will stand to benefit families, developing inner cities and public schools.
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