Gales School Exchange Information Sheet

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Gales School Exchange Information Sheet

The property exchange of the Gales School site for Central Union
Mission’s Georgia Avenue properties is mutually beneficial to both
parties.

The property exchange of the District of Columbia’s Gales School (“the
school”) site, located at 65 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, for three
adjacent parcels – 3510 Georgia Avenue, 3512 Georgia Avenue, and 714
Newton Place, NW – owned by Central Union Mission (“the Mission”)
benefits both the District and the Mission. In allowing the Mission to
redevelop the site and operate its services out of a restored Gales
School building, the District relieves itself of the responsibility of
directing and subsidizing the operations of the shelter while
providing a vehicle for the District to achieve its goal of sponsoring
mixed-income housing along the Georgia Avenue corridor. Likewise, the
Mission values a location that would place its services in greater
proximity to the sizable homeless population that would benefit
immensely from the Mission’s comprehensive services, as many homeless
individuals are still centralized in the downtown area.


The value of the Gales School property is discounted by restrictions
governing redevelopment of the site and restoration of the structure.

The Gales School site is 12,000 square feet on which sits the
historically designated 25,000 square-foot school building. The $9
million quoted value of the property is misleading, as the historic
designation of the school prohibits demolition of the existing
structure. The renovation costs that the Mission will incur to restore
the building to preservation standards are substantial and would
exceed the cost of new construction of a comparably sized facility on
the Mission’s Georgia Avenue property.


The assessed value of Central Union Mission’s Georgia Avenue
properties exceeds $6 million.

The oft-quoted value of the Mission’s Georgia Avenue properties is the
composite of individual 2006 tax assessments for each of the three
parcels. This sum is not reflective of a 2008 valuation of the three
merged parcels into one 18,500 square-foot plot, the current value of
which likely exceeds $6 million. The professional appraisal of 3510
Georgia Avenue alone, obtained last year by the Mission, was $4.9
million. However, the assessed value of the properties is secondary to
the tremendous development potential of a large parcel with an
appealing floor-to-area ratio (“FAR”) located on a rapidly emerging
commercial corridor. Whereas the historic status of the Gales School
structure constrains the potential for development on site, no such
designation would encumber the demolition of existing structures on
the Mission’s Georgia Avenue properties and further redevelopment of
the site.


Central Union Mission will invest more than twice the planned District
expenditure in restoring the Gales School property.

The $7 million budgeted by the District to renovate the Gales School
would have been a minimal investment to construct a facility that
meets the needs of the city’s homeless population. Central Union
Mission will invest twice that amount to transform the school into a
comprehensive service facility that will double the number of beds
originally programmed by the District. Despite this significant
investment of private capital into the site, the Mission will not
profit from the value of the Gales School property for decades, if
ever. The real estate contract to be executed between the District and
Central Union Mission requires the Mission to operate a shelter at the
site for a term of no less than 40 years and proscribes sale of the
property by the Mission during this period.

Central Union Mission’s plans for renovation of the Gales School will
preserve the architectural integrity of the historic structure.

At considerable cost to itself, the Mission will preserve the historic
Gales School structure more authentically than was originally planned
by the District. The character of the architecture will be honored
through the historically accurate restoration of the building’s
façade.

Central Union Mission will offer expanded programs and services to
serve the homeless.

The District intended to operate an emergency overnight shelter from
the Gales School. In contrast, services provided by Central Union
Mission will include on-site counseling and interventions, clothing
distribution, medical services, and long-term support programs. The
Mission would consider future expansion of its programs and services
in the downtown area beyond the Gales School and surrounding NoMA
community as part of an overall effort to end homelessness and serve
the poor of the District.

Operation of the Gales School shelter by Central Union Mission saves
taxpayer dollars.

The District would have subsidized or paid in full a contractor to
operate the Gales School shelter at a minimum of $1.5 million
annually. The Mission will neither request nor receive operating
subsidies from the District, saving taxpayers a minimum of $60 million
(in 2008 dollars) over the 40-year term of the contract. Furthermore,
no taxpayer dollars will fund the Mission’s programs or services.