Newspaper announcement-school UniVersal Academy
loOks to Coppell
for new campus
Move may about buying it and we're excited
also alleviate
financial woes
BY CRYSTAL FiORESTER
- ~TAF~ WI~ITEn
Universal Aca~[lemy charter
school may pack up and leave
Flower Mound to nmve to the
greener yard of Coppelt.
The school's a~dministrators
still have to subra~t a site plan
and request a special use permit
before the new prsperty can be
acquired by the State charter
school.
· Thc ll3,000-square-foot shop-
ping center in Copl~ell was origi-
nally intended for a Safeway gro-
cery store, but the store purled
out l0 days before the store went
m, said Coppell's a~sist~nt plan-
ning director Mardie Diamond.
The shopping cenljer has been
vacant for the past 50 years.
"It's phenomienal that
[Universal Academ3[] is thinking
for them to get in there," said
Andrea Roy, Coppell economic
development coorOAnator.
The property is currently
zoned for retail use, which will
require Universal Academy to
file a request for a special use
permit that could be filed as
early as Feb. 14, Diamond said.
Once the application is filed, it
could go before the city council
on April 12, Dian~ond said.
The school plans to fill out an
application within the next week
and hopes to get approval from
Coppell in the next 60 days so
building adaptations can be
made, said Janice Blackmon,
director of administrative ser-
vices.
The new facility will allow
Universal Academy to expand its
campus, building more class-
rooms and a gym. The move to
Coppell x~qll allow the school to
offer ath/etic teanLs to their stu-
dents as well, Blackmon said.
"What we lack at the Flower
Mound site is a gym," she said.
See FLOWER, Page IIA
From: Carol PrJmeaux
To: Marcie Diamond
Date: 1/25/2005 11:12:11 AM
Subject: Article
School planning to move Universal Academy hopes to leave for Copl:~ell, expand 02:08 PM CST on
Monday, January 24, 2005 By KEVlN KRAUSE ! The Dallas Morning N~ws Universal Academy charter
school plans to move from its campus in Flower Mound to a different cit~/by this summer and possibly
expand its educational offerings, administrators said.School administrat~brs have met with a city planner in
Coppell and hope to lease space in a vacant shopping center there at the southeast corner of MacArthur
Boulevard and Sandy Lake Road.The 10.5-acre property is in good shal~e but has been vacant for 15
years, a Coppell official said. When the shopping center was built, a Sal~eway grocery store was supposed
to be the anchor tenant. But shortly after construction, the chain decide~l to pull out of Texas, said A.W.
Walker, the general partner of a New York partnership that owns the pr(~perty. Janice Blackmon,
Universal's director of administrative services, said her goal is to have b~Jsinesses lease space inside the
115,000-square-foot center and possibly offer vocational training to Universal students?There's growth
potential in the new building," she said.The Irving-based charter school Opened its Flower Mound campus
in 2001 at Waketon Road and FM2499. About 1,160 students are enroll~ed, school officials said. Universal
has a separate campus in Irving. Flower Mound Mayor Jody Smith said She was sorry to hear about
Universal's plans to leave town."We surely hate to lose them because rrlany of our residents send their
children there," she said. "It was very successful here in Flower Mound, and I hope they have continued
success."Marcie Diamond, the city of Coppell's assistant planning direc~r, said she met with Universal
administrators on Wednesday after receiving an inquiry from the school;Ms. Diamond said the Coppell
property is zoned for retail and that Universal's administrators would have to request a special use permit
to allow a school there. The school also would have to submit a site plar~, she said.The school had not
submitted any plans or applications as of Wednesday, she said. UniversBI decided to move in part
because it could not fulfill a development agreement it signed with Flower Mound in 2001 that required the
school to make improvements to Waketon Road. Ms. Blackmon said Ur~iversal became saddled with debt
and was not allowed to use state education dollars to widen the access i'oad. Denton County deed records
show that the nonprofit school, run by LTTS Charier School Inc., borrowed $9.8 million in 2001 from ABS
School Services, an Arizona company that offers financing to charter, p~ivate and public schools. The
company also offers educational and management consulting services 11o schools and school districts.in
March, Universal tried to sell the 29-acre property to erase its more thari $4 million in remaining debt, but
there were no takers, Ms. Blackmon said. In August, the school reachedl an agreement to sell the property
back to the lender and lease it from ABS, she said?The school couldn't keep up with the expectations of
the town," said Randal Floyd, the school's business consultant. "Being able to develop those 29 acres
requires substantial capital. The demands were too great."ABS declined to comment on its arrangement
with Universal.On Jan. 4, ABS purchased the property at a foreclosure 8ale, deed records show. But ABS
already owned it at the time. The sale was a legal maneuver ABS needed to clean up title to the property,
Mr. Floyd said?The school is not in default on any of its payments," he ~aid.Ms. Blackmon said the terms
of Universal's lease are up at the end of the school year and that she hqpes to be able to begin the next
school year at the Coppell site."lt allows for the school to grow or down~rade without taking a penalty
because we bit off more than we can chew," Mr. Floyd said.The possibl~ move has some parents
uneasy?It's a long way for us to drive. I'm concerned whether they can r!eally make this work," said Larry
Doversberger of Highland Village, whose 7-year-old son attends the school. Mr. Doversberger praised the
school's academic program and said his son has done much better at Universal. Ms. Blackmon said she
would like to bus students who need transportation to the new location ~nd reimburse parents for some of
their transportation costs."We're asking our PTO to step up with their ful~d-raising efforts to get a gas pool
going," she said. Mr. Walker said nothing has been signed yet regarding his Coppell property, but terms
would most likely include a lease with an option to buy?We didn't want a shopping center," he said. "I'm
fond of the intent of a charter school."We gave them a sweetheart deal. Whatever they want to do is
perfectly fine with me."E-mail kkrause@dallasnews.comor call 972-43645551, ext. 2004