The Building Block Fund: Credit Enhancements for Charter School Facilities

Is your school trying to secure a facility, but having trouble qualifying for a loan or lease?  CSDC can provide the "repayment assurance" necessary to close the deal.

Whether you're planning to rent, buy, renovate or construct educational facilities, CSDC offers crucial credit enhancement support through its Building Block Fund.  Think of CSDC as the "co-signer" to help you qualify for your initial loan or lease or to help you expand your successful charter school. 

CSDC has been the largest financial intermediary and credit enhancement provider to charter schools nationally for more than a decade.  Its Building Block Fund credit enhancement program is focused on getting charter schools into safe, modern, economical and efficient facilities.  CSDC's credit enhancements gradually "burn off" and are released as the schools establish themselves and demonstrate good operating results in the facilities, thus reducing the need for CSDC's financial support.

At CSDC, we know how to get excellent leverage and help charter schools secure a 100% financed facility at an affordable cost. CSDC's credit enhancements are flexible and take many forms:

• Partial, limited lease and loan guarantees
• additional collateral
• loan loss reserves
• debt service reserve funds

Indianapolis Building Block Fund (IBBF)

For charter schools sponsored by the Mayor of Indianapolis, CSDC offers credit enhancements through the Indianapolis Building Block Fund. Launched in 2010 in partnership with the Indianapolis Mayor's Office, this $2 million program offers credit enhancement solutions to help Indianapolis charter schools secure facilities upon advantageous lease and loan terms, enabling them to maximize their educational funding. Click here for more information on Mayor-sponsored charter schools.

CSDC is the guarantor you can count on to bring confidence to lenders and landlords.  Time and again, CSDC's credit enhancement support has made the critical difference by inducing a lender or a landlord to make a commitment to a charter school that they otherwise wouldn't have made.

Building on Our Success!

As of September 2011, CSDC's Building Block Fund has provided over $44 million in credit enhancement for 95 schools serving over 30,000 students in 24 states and the District of Columbia, leveraging over $315 milion in private capital financing and lease commitments for more than 3.2 million square feet of educational facilities. Check out some of these success stories - then put our extensive expertise to work for you!

The Building Block Fund is made possible, in part, by the grant support of the U.S. Department of Education and the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, MO.  

To find out more about CSDC's Building Block Fund, IBBF and other services, visit our FAQ page. To contact CSDC about your specific project, complete our School Prequalification Form.