After creating a list of potential sites, it is important to prepare with your team before conducting initial site visits. Together, following these first site visits, you and your team can then select which site or sites you would like to continue evaluating through the due diligence process, which will allow you to more deeply understand the full conditions of potential charter school sites and make an informed decision about how to move forward.

Preparation

The Team
While preparing for your first round of site visits, it’s important to have a meeting with your full team. During this initial meeting, each member of your facility team will have the opportunity to  understand your perspective on each site, meet the rest of the team, and work out any strategies and logistics related to site visits.  This meeting, typically lasting about two hours, helps set the stage for a successful facility project.  

From your first site visit, try to bring as many team members as possible to each site, instead of waiting to engage the full team once you’ve narrowed down your options.   The facility team’s insights will speed up the site selection process greatly; the team can draw from their expertise to accurately assess the pros and cons of each site. This will allow you to quickly determine if each site is a tentative possibility or a definite rule-out. For shortlisted sites, after the first visit, your team should have enough information to  begin the analysis needed to determine site feasibility.

Due Diligence

Once you have narrowed down your site options, you and your facility team are ready to begin due diligence. Due diligence is a formal, well-established process.  Although the complete process of Due Diligence requires investments of both time and money, due diligence will be a critical vehicle for convincing lenders, as well as your own internal team, that you’re headed in the right direction with the right site. The following considerations are some of the key components of due diligence.

Site Capacity
When further evaluating a site, you and your team will compare the available square footage of a site with your interior and exterior space requirements.  Depending on the site, available square footage may include the following scenarios:

• The zoning maximum square footage for a new site
• The square footage of an existing building
• The square footage of an existing building with expansion (there will likely be sub-options) up to the zoning maximum

Land Use Considerations: Zoning
Zoning laws regulate how you can develop and use property. For each candidate site, you should consider whether any special zoning approvals are needed to use the site as an educational facility. If special approvals are required, you will need to factor public hearings into your timeline, which can add several months to your construction schedule.  Your architect and zoning counsel will advise on zoning, identifying any potential issues, and estimating the process and timeline that would be needed to address them.

Although some zoning restrictions will be dependent on your location, there are some zoning regulations common to all sites, including the following:

• Setback requirements (the minimum distance a building must be from a street or road)
• How much green space must be maintained at the site
• Which area(s) can be designated for parking
• Street frontage (the intersection of the property line with a public street) requirements for school drop-off and pick-up
• How much density (square footage) the site is allowed to hold, technically known as the Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.)
• Maximum building height

Building Code Considerations
As part of the due diligence process, your architect should study in detail the building code requirements and how they may impact facility plans at your desired site. If your site does not already meet your locality’s building code requirements, you may compromise space and money in order to satisfy the requirements. Some common building code considerations for schools include the following:

• Has the site been used by a school before?  If so, the mechanical systems, if in good shape, are more likely to pass code. To assess the state of the site’s mechanical systems, an engineering evaluation is needed, along with the contractor’s expertise.
• Has the site been used by a school with a recent Certificate of Occupancy?  If so, a number of potential grandfathering advantages may apply that have major cost and timing consequences.
• In order for the site to meet ADA-accessibility accommodations, several special components are required. An elevator is required for multi-story buildings.  The site must also have special toilet layouts to accommodate individuals with physical disabilities.
• The site must follow required protocol for fire exits. Fire exit requirements include a minimum number of enclosed stairs and code-compliant locations.
• Does the site have a sufficient quantity of toilet facilities? Are they located conveniently for your program? If not, toilet facilities are particularly costly to install in a site. 

Depending on your location, there may be other, likely significant building code requirements that will need to be studied in detail, and accounted for in your timeline and budget, by your architect.

Historic Structures
If your potential charter school site has a building that has been designated as historic, there will likely be special review and/or permitting processes, including public hearings.  These measures take considerable time and are costly, which will need to be factored into your timeline and budget.

Infrastructure/Utilities
It is important to thoroughly consider the state of the utilities and infrastructure at potential sites for your charter school. Adding capacity is often expensive and can add pressure to staying on schedule. Some jurisdictions will require that you pay for infrastructure improvements beyond your property line. To evaluate the status of infrastructure and utilities for candidate sites, consider the following questions:

• Is there sufficient electrical power?
• Is there sufficient water service?
• Is there sufficient gas service (if applicable)?
• What’s the condition of paved surfaces, sidewalks, and street lighting?

Internal Building Systems
Check the:

• Condition and code compliance of the HVAC system
• Condition and code compliance of the Electrical system
• Condition and code compliance of the Plumbing systemCompliance with Green Building Codes, LEED (where applicable)

These are increasingly part of your obligations as jurisdictions struggle to solve climate crisis issues.