Kipp Academy Lynn Charter School to Build New Home With Help From MassDevelopment Financing Package

June 9, 2011

Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077
Jennifer Parkos, KIPP Academy Lynn, 781-592-1937

MassDevelopment has provided a $26 million New Markets Tax Credits financing package to Friends of KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School Foundation, Inc., the supporting organization for KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School (KAL). The financing package includes $17.5 million in tax-exempt and taxable bonds issued on the organization’s behalf. The School will use proceeds to purchase a six-acre site on High Rock Street in Lynn and build a 68,000-square-foot middle and high school. The new facility will replace the 14,000-square-foot space KAL currently leases from the Boston Archdiocese on Lynn's Bessom Street. KAL expects the project to create more than 40 jobs. Boston Private Bank & Trust Company purchased the bond, with participation by Citizens Bank and Boston Community Capital. JP Morgan Chase purchased the tax credits.

“KIPP Academy students receive the kind of quality education necessary to power the Commonwealth's innovation economy,” said MassDevelopment Executive Vice President of Finance Programs Laura Canter. “This low-cost financing will help the School enroll more students in better facilities and extend KIPP’s record of success.”

The new facility will include 36 classrooms; 16 specialty rooms; a gymnasium with locker rooms and storage; a cafeteria; a library media center; athletic fields; and outdoor recreational space. The School will also have space for car and bus circulation as well as parking for 152 cars per the Lynn zoning code. When at full capacity, the new KIPP Academy Lynn middle and high school campus will serve 750 students in grades 5-12.

“MassDevelopment played a critical role in helping us get this building built for our students and families. They worked relentlessly to make this deal a reality. Without their work, the deal would not have been possible,” said Josh Zoia, KIPP Massachusetts Executive Director. “Our kids are proving the possible every day. Our new building will be both a beacon for the community and will also give our kids more of the tools they need to be successful on their paths to and through college.”

About KIPP Academy Lynn

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2010, MassDevelopment financed or managed 238 projects in 104 communities across the state generating investment of nearly $1.4 billion in the Massachusetts economy.