Civic Launches New Development in Washington Heights

New Heights Academy Charter School has partnered with Civic Builders on the expansion of their educational facility in northern Manhattan. New Heights, which already occupies nearly 28,000 square feet at 1818 Amsterdam Avenue, needs more space in order to meet the needs of their growing student body. Civic Builders has secured a 30-year lease for four floors of the building and will be financing and managing the development. The build-out will add thousands of square feet to their building, create new classrooms, administrative offices and storage, and bring bathrooms and other amenities up to code. Design work is already underway and construction is slated to commence in December. The facility will be completed in time for the fall 2009 semester. Learn more >

Democracy Prep Moves into Completed Facility

In just 10 months, Civic transformed a dilapidated church vestry into a bright, inspiring educational space for Democracy Preparatory Charter School (DPCS).

“Civic was a great partner to have in this project,” said Seth Andrews, Founder & Head of School at DPCS. “Civic handled the critical elements including the financing, lease arrangement and construction, saving DPCS time, money and energy. Working with Civic meant that we were able to complete a new facility, while simultaneously having a fantastic academic year.”

DPCS, which serves 350 students in grades 6-8, started the new school year in their completely refurbished, 25,500 square foot space that includes 13 classrooms, an auditorium, a library, a gymnasium, small instruction rooms, teacher collaboration rooms and other administrative office space.

“The impact on our students will be profound,” said Andrews. “The new building will give our scholars a sense of ownership of their education and a sense of permanence in our community. We can’t wait to see our students’ reactions to their new home!” Learn more >

Staff Spotlight: Annie Tirschwell Leads the Way

With six Project Managers to oversee and eight initiatives in development/predevelopment, Annie Tirschwell, Senior Vice President of Real Estate, is a veritable whirlwind of activity. Annie coordinates with the real estate team to ensure that the design and construction of all of Civic’s developments remain on budget and on schedule.

“At Civic, we’re very focused on bringing new buildings on line affordably,” explained Annie. “We do this by coming up with creative solutions for our developments – everything from strategic reuse of existing structures to material substitutions to securing quality contractors that meet budget objectives.”

Civic’s goal, said Annie, is to cater to the needs of our charter partners, while at the same time being “very thoughtful” with regard to our engagement process. Most importantly, Civic strives to reduce the time world-class educators spend on real estate issues. “We have to work smartly to present design ideas and solutions in a way that makes sense to a lay person and also minimizes their time commitment.”

Bringing valuable architecture to urban communities and creating inspiring spaces for children are important aspects of Annie’s work. “The best day and the worst day for me is the first day of school,” she joked. “While it’s amazing to see our architecture come to life, it’s equally dramatic to see the students put their hands all over the new, sparkling, clean walls.”

Annie, who also co-founded Civic Builders, has extensive experience in NYC real estate development. Prior to joining Civic, Annie managed over 2.5 million square feet of construction, including Manhattan’s Chelsea Market building. She’s a life-long New Yorker having been raised in Manhattan, where she still lives with her husband and two, “future contractor” sons.