March 30, 2022
For Immediate Release
CONTACT:
Office of Communications
301-952-6001
communications@pgcps.org
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — At the P3 Awards 2021 ceremony held in New York, NY on March 23, 2022, the award for Social Infrastructure Project of the Year was presented to members of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) and Prince George’s County Education & Community Partners (PGCECP), a consortium comprised of Fengate Asset Management (Fengate) and Gilbane Development Company as Developer; Gilbane Building Company as Design-Build Contractor; Stantec as Designer and Architect of Record; and Honeywell Building Technologies as Services Provider.
One of the 20 largest school districts in the United States, Prince George’s County has the second-oldest buildings in Maryland with more than half of its 208 schools over 50 years old. PGCPS partnered with Prince George’s County Education & Community Partners, a consortium of developers, to overcome a massive funding shortage to update, modernize and expand its aging school infrastructure.
This pioneering “Blueprint Schools” program was specifically designed to address aging and overcrowded facilities and will deliver six new schools, ultimately serving 8,000 students, by July 2023, a mere two and a half years after reaching financial close. This innovative bundled delivery model, the first of its kind in the U.S., is advancing local economic inclusion goals through diverse and local business utilization. Nearly 30% of total eligible costs will be awarded to minority-owned businesses and community-based small businesses, while approximately $174 million in savings is expected to be realized by PGCPS in deferred maintenance and construction costs savings.
The P3 Awards judges were impressed with the model that sets an important precedent for other school districts looking to meet immediate and long-term needs, and that creates substantial cost and time-savings and sizable community benefits. The project has also recently been recognized as Social Infrastructure (Education) Deal of the Year and Editor’s Choice as the Best Deal in North America at the IJGlobal Awards 2020 and ESG Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year at the IJGlobal ESG Awards 2021. The six-school program is currently one-third through construction with foundations nearing completion, structural steel topping out in spring 2022, building dry-in spring/summer 2022, and targeted completion summer 2023.
“This historic chapter of school construction invests in our students with a blueprint for bold action and urgency,” said Prince George’s County Public Schools CEO Dr. Monica Goldson. “We are proud to lead in leveraging the Alternative Construction Financing model to deliver six new modern school buildings in record time. There is no doubt that other school systems in our region and across the nation will look to Prince George’s County for innovation in capital improvements.”
“We are Prince George’s Proud that our County and our school system are being recognized for the Alternative Construction Finance program for school construction,” said Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. “This is a tremendous honor for our County, and we want to thank and congratulate everyone who played a role in pushing this innovative model for school construction forward. Because of our collective efforts, we are not only providing quality learning environments for our children, but we are also making Prince George’s County a national leader in school construction while creating generational wealth for local and minority-owned businesses.”
“The County Council proudly celebrates this award honoring our County’s groundbreaking public-private partnership for school construction,” said Prince George’s County Council Chair Calvin S. Hawkins II (At-Large). “It was a special moment to witness Prince George’s County Public Schools CEO Dr. Monica Goldson accepting this high honor on behalf of our partners and the private sector. We remain committed to such creative, model strategies that deliver important educational and economic opportunities for our students and communities.”
“Thank you to the P3 Awards organizers and judges for recognizing this critical and first-of-its-kind project delivering six schools for the students, staff and community of Prince George’s County,” said Mac Bell, Managing Director, Infrastructure Investments, Fengate. “We are so proud to be partners with PGCPS on this much-needed development project, and of the additional benefits for the community including apprenticeships, scholarships, significant cost savings over traditional procurement, and guaranteed work opportunities for local and diverse businesses.”
“We are extremely honored to have received this award, which represents an incredible amount of effort and collaboration of so many within the school system, community, and our consortium,” said Darin Early, Managing Director of Gilbane Development Company. “We hope that this partnership will serve as a model for providing safe, sustainable educational facilities for school systems across the country.”
For more information on the Blueprint Schools initiative, visit www.
About Prince George’s County Education & Community Partners
Prince George’s County Education & Community Partners (PGCECP) is a consortium selected by Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) to design, build, finance, operate and maintain six public middle schools in Prince George County, Maryland, by innovatively addressing aging facilities and increasing community needs. PGCECP, the consortium delivering this project, comprises Fengate Asset Management, Gilbane Development Company, Gilbane Building Company, Stantec and Honeywell Building Technologies. The approach is the first of its kind for a U.S. public school system and is designed to build new schools faster, cutting the delivery time in half with lower construction costs and preventative maintenance.
-30-
