Sale of University City High School To Drexel U. is Completed
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The deal is done. The School District of Philadelphia has finalized the sale of University City High School to Drexel University.
Drexel paid $25 million for the school building, which the district closed last June (see related stories).
The district will net $21.1 milion from the deal, cash that's needed to pay bills by the end of the month, says district spokesman Fernando Gallard.
"This is money that we were already counting on, and we wanted to see this sale happen as quickly as possible," he said today.
Now, Gallard says, the school district is calling on City Council to borrow $28 million to fulfill its promise to make up for unsold district real estate this year (see related story). That is in addition to the $75 million more the district is seeking from the city to prevent deep cuts in next year's budget (other related stories).
Drexel plans to build offices, retail, housing, and possibly a K-8 public school on the University City site.