Next September, students at P.S. 59 and the High School of Art and Design on Manhattan's East Side will start classes on their old block but in new digs: a 12-story building that they will share with each other and a Whole Foods market on a mixed-use site. The two schools and the supermarket are separated by floors and design, but the project—the first of a two-phased, $700-million undertaking—is on 1.5 acres of city property leased to a private firm that will develop the site further and build the public schools portion for free.
The deal is the 17th public-private partnership (P3) and the largest to date for the Educational Construction Fund, a New York City Dept. of Education agency that uses P3s to develop mixed-use sites that include schools.