Advanced efficiency for advancing education
Property summary
Shrub Oak is a private, coeducational, therapeutic day and boarding school for students ages 8-30 on the autism spectrum. Located on 127 acres of rolling, wooded hills approximately 30 minutes north of New York City, the facility was originally built in the 1950s as a Jesuit seminary.
Opportunity
C-PACE financing through Nuveen Green Capital is being used to retroactively finance multiple renovations including lighting, HVAC, and building envelope. The recapitalization of nearly $7M in energy upgrades will provide immediate liquidity and will save the property owner an estimated $62,662 in the first year alone.
About Commercial PACE
Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) makes it possible for commercial property owners to obtain low-cost, long-term financing for renovations, water conservation and renewable energy projects. The program starts with a state-level government policy that classifies clean energy upgrades as a public benefit – like a new sewer, water line or road. These upgrades can be financed with no money down and then repaid as a benefit assessment on the property tax bill over a term that matches the useful life of improvements and/or new construction infrastructure (typically ~20-30 years). The assessment transfers on the sale of the property and can be passed through to tenants where appropriate. While facilitating sustainability efforts, the program reduces property owners’ annual costs and provides dramatically better-than-market financing for green new construction.
My experience with a critically important financing accomplished with Nuveen Green Capital has been a wonderful, positive and professionally managed effort. We are a growing institution serving a residential community of children with autism. Many challenges were navigated with superior diligence. For energy efficiency, ecological considerations and economic reasons, I would work with Nuveen Green Capital in the future, and depend on them.
