Big GDS news

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There must be some GDS-affiliated developers associated with this plan, but I still can't see how the trustees can approve it with so much expense for little/no extra space.

Every one I talk to is very excited about the new, state-of-the art combined campus. One person even described the deal as "brilliant." I trust the Trustees.

And one person I talk to called it "idiocy."

It's depressing to keep hearing "trust the Trustees." Critical thinking, rather than mindless deference to authority, used to be a core GDS value.

No "mindless deference" here. The Trustees are doing their job. They are a highly accomplished and credentialed group of individuals and have put together a deal that is truly game-changing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There must be some GDS-affiliated developers associated with this plan, but I still can't see how the trustees can approve it with so much expense for little/no extra space.

Every one I talk to is very excited about the new, state-of-the art combined campus. One person even described the deal as "brilliant." I trust the Trustees.

And one person I talk to called it "idiocy."

It's depressing to keep hearing "trust the Trustees." Critical thinking, rather than mindless deference to authority, used to be a core GDS value.

No "mindless deference" here. The Trustees are doing their job. They are a highly accomplished and credentialed group of individuals and have put together a deal that is truly game-changing!

Ok, if that's true, outline the structure of the deal. And use numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There must be some GDS-affiliated developers associated with this plan, but I still can't see how the trustees can approve it with so much expense for little/no extra space.

Every one I talk to is very excited about the new, state-of-the art combined campus. One person even described the deal as "brilliant." I trust the Trustees.

And one person I talk to called it "idiocy."

It's depressing to keep hearing "trust the Trustees." Critical thinking, rather than mindless deference to authority, used to be a core GDS value.

No "mindless deference" here. The Trustees are doing their job. They are a highly accomplished and credentialed group of individuals and have put together a deal that is truly game-changing!

Ok, if that's true, outline the structure of the deal. And use numbers.

No doubt some of the details are still sensitive and confidential. I heard from one person who is quite well versed that, with what the school expects to make from the MacArthur sale and the development rights/upside on Wisconsin, they are nesrly getting the consolidated campus for free. If this is so, it seems like a pretty smart transaction.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps you misheard or misinterpreted. For that to be true, GDS would have to find a developer who would be willing to spend more to lease the Martens site than he would have been to buy it (about $12 million). And a purchaser who is willing and able to spend $78 million for the MacArthur campus (approximately four times its assessed value).

Land acquisition cost $40 million. GDS estimates the cost of constructing new L/MS facilities on the campus at $40 - 70 million. My calculations were based on assuming $50 million, which is at the low end of that range.

[Anonymous]

The smart transaction would be to keep the younger kids on a more spacious campus where they are and consolidate middle and upper at Tenley. Of course, that is more expensive, but to cram that many kids into a space that won't really fit them doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The smart transaction would be to keep the younger kids on a more spacious campus where they are and consolidate middle and upper at Tenley. Of course, that is more expensive, but to cram that many kids into a space that won't really fit them doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

By putting the campuses together, GDS instantly gains an advantage that Sidwell doesn't have: substantial convenience for families whose kids are enrolled in several grades and operational efficiencies that the school can apply to the classroom and to financial aid. At the top tier of private schools ,there is a competition of sorts for the best and the brightest, and this move helps GDS in the long run.

[Anonymous]

In other words, to beat Sidwell GDS should become more like Maret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In other words, to beat Sidwell GDS should become more like Maret.

Why does the GDS community define itself by how it matches or doesn't match up Sidwell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In other words, to beat Sidwell GDS should become more like Maret.

Why does the GDS community define itself by how it matches or doesn't match up Sidwell?

The GDS community doesn't. I would guess that less than 10% of the posts on this thread are from people with ANY connection to GDS. I think that goes for almost all of the private school forum, school-specific posts.

[Anonymous]

Don't every school?

[Anonymous]

The GDS community doesn't. I would guess that less than 10% of the posts on this thread are from people with ANY connection to GDS. I think that goes for almost all of the private school forum, school-specific posts.

Lots of evidence that GDS is overly focused Sidwell, including anybody who talks to GDS families and even here where it was reported that kids said rude things about Sidwell at a new student orientation.

[Anonymous]

I've heard some GDS parents say that the new campus puts GDS firmly along Wisconsin Ave., just like the Cathedral schools and Sidwell, like this confers Top 3 recognition.

[Anonymous]

Actually, the current plan is two 90 foot apartment buildings along Wisconsin Ave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
By putting the campuses together, GDS instantly gains an advantage that Sidwell doesn't have: substantial convenience for families whose kids are enrolled in several grades and operational efficiencies that the school can apply to the classroom and to financial aid. At the top tier of private schools ,there is a competition of sorts for the best and the brightest, and this move helps GDS in the long run.

I am not sure why Sidwell would be the comparison here. They are two different schools. My impression is that Sidwell like having the smaller kids on their own campus and the kids in their final year there are the "big kids" before coming to the Wisconsin Avenue campus. They have a shuttle bus that runs between the campuses, and I don't know too many people who are complaining about two campuses - certainly no recent threads on DCUM. Ultimately, I guess we can just disagree. I think cramming 1100 kids onto a campus the size of Maret (which has a smaller student body) is a long term poor decision, clouded by the complication of the commercial transactions for the Wisconsin Avenue properties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, the current plan is two 90 foot apartment buildings along Wisconsin Ave.

There will be no above-ground building on the Davenport "right of way" (the mixed-use towers will be to either side) so that there will be strong visual connection between GDS and the Avenue.