Fengate and P3 partners celebrate the opening of five new schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland

History was made this week when Fengate-led consortium, Prince George’s County Education and Community Partners (PGCECP), cut the ribbon to officially open Hyattsville Middle School, one in the bundle of six schools being delivered for the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Blueprint Schools Program using an innovative Public-Private Partnership (P3) model – a first in the United States (US).

PGCECP – a collaborative team comprising Fengate Asset Management (Lead Development & Financing Member), Gilbane Development Company (Development & Financing Member), Gilbane Building Company (Lead Design-Builder), Stantec (Architect & Design Lead) and Honeywell (Lead Services Provider) – joined senior stakeholders and elected officials at Hyattsville Middle School on Monday, September 18, 2023 for the ceremony.

Brandey McDonald, Project Director for Fengate Asset Management and Project Executive for the PGCECP consortium, said she is proud that the partnership was the first in the US to utilize the P3 model for the delivery of new schools.

“As I look around the space, I am so proud that we are the first to actually do this…and that Prince George’s County now has brand new, state-of-the-art buildings [for students].”

“Many rapidly growing jurisdictions like Prince George’s County will utilize this project as a litmus test for expediting the construction and modernization of new and aging assets,” she said.

“PGCECP were with us from the very beginning,” said Jason Washington, Associate Superintendent of Supporting Services and Director of the Office of Alternative Infrastructure Planning and Development, Prince George’s County Public Schools.

“[PGCECP understood] our objectives, incorporating as many minority and community businesses into its program [as possible]…They excelled and they exceeded the goals that we had, and we are very excited and thankful for their participation and their support for us to make that happen,” he said.

“When I took office, we were facing an $8 billion school construction backlog, and the Alternative Construction Finance program provided an innovative solution to build new schools quickly and at a cost savings. We are proud to be a national leader in new school construction while also creating generational wealth for our local, small, and minority-owned businesses,” said Prince George’s County Executive, Angela Alsobrooks.

Hyattsville was the first of five ribbon-cuttings to take place throughout Prince George’s County, Maryland this week in celebration of the bundled school delivery initiative used to design, build, finance and maintain multiple K-12 schools.

The five schools, all middle schools, opened their doors to 6,000 students in late August, and more than 8,000 students will benefit from the new education facilities when the sixth school, a K-8 academy, is completed this fall. For more information visit the PGCPS Blueprint Schools Program website.

Fengate is managing this investment on behalf of the Fengate Core Infrastructure Fund III and its affiliated entities, including an investment fund owned by LiUNA’s Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada.