Opening or financing a charter school campus in Spartanburg

Who pays for a new charter's building

Rarely the founders. A new charter's revenue arrives per student after it opens, so it usually cannot borrow for its first building. The building is typically bought and converted by a charter-facility developer and leased to the school, with an option to buy after a few years, often with tax-exempt bonds.

Spartanburg demand

The Charter Institute at Erskine approved two charters to open in Spartanburg in 2027-28: American Classical Academy - Spartanburg, a K-5 school growing to K-12 and 690 students, and Entrepreneur High School, opening with grades 9-10. Every Spartanburg school district reported no vacant or unused school buildings in 2024. A new charter cannot start with district surplus.

What a charter earns, and how much of it can go to the building

Revenue depends on the authorizer. A charter authorized by a district shares local funds. One authorized by the SC Public Charter School District or a college authorizer such as Erskine receives state funds plus additional charter-district funding instead of local revenue. Posted 2027-28 Spartanburg budgets assume about $13,600 per high-school student and set aside 18% of revenue for facilities. Developers aim to keep rent at 12-15% of revenue at full enrollment, and treat more than 18-20% as unsustainable.

A posted high-school budget, year one

$4,078,427 for 300 students

The same budget, year three

$8,082,961 for 600 students

A posted K-12 budget

18% of revenue for facilities; break-even at 322 students

Developer rent

8-12% of total project cost a year

State figures: the FY2026-27 act's average State Aid to Classrooms is $6,023 per pupil, and its projected average total funding is $9,341 state, $1,428 federal and $9,805 local per pupil. Budgets in the applications are the schools' own projections.

Property tax. South Carolina exempts charter schools' property "whether owned or leased" (S.C. Code §59-40-140(K)). In 2018 the Court of Appeals applied that to a campus a private company leased to a charter school. The owner applies to the Department of Revenue with the lease and the charter, and again after each new deed. The same building held by a taxable owner for a non-charter tenant would pay tax. Property tax by occupant.

What a building must pass before a charter opens in it

A charter's building answers to the Department of Education's Office of School Facilities. It approves the site before the building is acquired, reviews the plans, inspects the work and issues a written Certificate of Approval before anyone occupies it.

• Site approval before acquisition. The Office of School Facilities inspects and approves a site before it is bought.
• Code for an educational occupancy. A building converted to a school must meet the code of its new classification. One that has stood unused for more than a year is brought up to code as a new building.
• Fire, kitchen and inspections. Sprinklers go to the State Fire Marshal, a school kitchen needs SCDHEC plan approval, and third-party inspectors are the school's responsibility.
• No acreage minimum. South Carolina rescinded its minimum school-site acreage. The State Superintendent may waive square-footage rules when a commercial building is converted (S.C. Code §59-23-230). Code, fire and life-safety requirements cannot be waived.
• Parking and access. Parking follows local zoning. SCDOT approves a site plan's traffic and parking work, and bus traffic is separated from cars and pedestrians unless the Office of School Facilities approves otherwise.

The facilities guide cited is the 2023 edition; a later edition may differ.

Authorizers, and the road from application to opening

A Spartanburg charter can be authorized by a local school board, the SC Public Charter School District or a college authorizer such as the Charter Institute at Erskine. The law requires a letter of intent at least 90 days before the application and a ruling within 90 days. An approved charter opens at the start of the following school year, once the Department of Education verifies its finances.

1. Letter of intent, at least 90 days before the application (S.C. Code §59-40-70).
2. Application; the authorizer rules within 90 days.
3. Site control, the Office of School Facilities' site approval, plans, renovation and inspection.
4. Certificate of Approval, then opening at the start of the following school year.

South Carolina's 2026 charter reform, as the SC Public Charter School District summarizes it, renames sponsors "authorizers", adds authorizer reviews and a transfer process, and sets a funding formula for new locally authorized schools after 1 July 2027. This page relies on that summary, not on the enacted text.

Real-estate routes, and what they cost in Spartanburg

A new build of a campus of about 20,000 sq ft on 2.5 acres prices at $3.24M to $5.20M before sitework. Office-to-school conversions have cost $250-$275 per sq ft. Spartanburg churches, halls and day-care buildings resold for $7-$77 per sq ft, the cheapest route, but those buildings need work and are rarely sized or zoned for a school. A developer's lease costs 8-12% of the project's cost a year.

The numbers to check before committing to a building

• Rent within 12-15% of revenue at full enrollment, and under 18% while enrollment ramps.
• Opening enrollment at or above the budget's break-even.
• At $11,000-$13,600 of revenue per student, a rent of $0.29M-$0.58M a year falls within 12-18% of revenue from about 250 students. A rent of $0.66M-$0.99M needs about 360-410.
• Site control early enough for the Office of School Facilities' approval, renovation and a Certificate of Approval before August.
• A building delivered empty.
• A lease that keeps the property-tax exemption, with the filing timed to the first 31 December.

Where 325 South Church fits

325 South Church is one parcel of 2.49 acres, with a 12,128 sq ft block building and a 7,600 sq ft metal building, zoned for schools by right. At the densities of converted charter buildings it holds about 360-410 students. It suits a 250-400-student opening phase whose shop, lab or maker space can use the second building. It does not suit a 600-student high school at full size, or a K-12 school wanting 50,000 sq ft, ten acres and a gym.

Capacity and parking

A developer's arithmetic on this campus

At the asking price plus a light conversion, the project costs about $3.6M-$4.8M, and rent at 8-12% of that is $0.29M-$0.58M a year. For a 300-student school at about $13,600 per student, that is 7-14% of revenue. A full conversion of both buildings, about $8.2M in total, needs 360-410 students. Change the inputs below; the results illustrate your assumptions and are not an appraisal.

Formula: project cost = price + conversion; rent = project cost × rent rate; share of revenue = (rent + property tax) ÷ (students × revenue per student). The light conversion covers cooling and a fire alarm for Building 1, from South Carolina public HVAC and fire-alarm projects ($24-$119 and $3.40-$8.30 per sq ft). The full conversion applies a Spartanburg office conversion's $250 per sq ft to both buildings.

Time to open

A ready existing building converted by a developer has gone from purchase to opening in about six to nine months in Spartanburg. A new build of a campus this size takes about 18-30 months including land, design and permits. To open in August 2027, a conversion needs site control by about the start of 2027; a new build would have needed it in 2025.

One posted 2027-28 application planned about 13 months from site search to occupancy, with eight to nine months of renovation. For this campus the clock also depends on when it is vacant, which is not public. Buy or build, in months and dollars.

What has killed or delayed charter facility plans

South Carolina openings have been delayed or lost when a seller could not deliver its building empty, when a temporary church wing failed renovation permits, when no suitable building was found, and when a school could not raise the last of its building loan. The authorizer of Spartanburg's 2027-28 schools has said a school without the expected appearance draws no children.

A candidate building is ruled out if

• it cannot be empty in time for the state's approvals and renovation;
• it cannot pass the Office of School Facilities' and fire review before August;
• its conversion pushes rent above 18% of opening revenue;
• it cannot hold the opening enrollment.

For 325 South Church, the first of these is open: it is occupied today, and no public record says when it would be empty.

Due diligence still required