New Ventures Group recently assembled a 10-acre site in the City of Newcastle on behalf of the Issaquah School District.

The Issaquah School District was in need of a future school site within the City of Newcastle. Because approximately half of the Newcastle study area falls within another school district, the search area was greatly limited. Furthermore, Newcastle is a historic coal-mining town and a large number of potentially hazardous abandoned mine shafts have been found throughout the area, thereby eliminating these areas as potential school sites.

New Ventures Group's approach to this project was first to identify and eliminate all potentially hazardous sites prior to compilation of a "long list" of sites that met basic site requirements such as size and location. New Ventures Group then applied a systematic evaluation process that resulted in a short list of preferred sites. The preferred sites were, in turn, subject to a more thorough evaluation that judged each site against specific site selection criteria. We modified our evaluation checklist to include concerns unique to Newcastle. High snow potential and steep slopes were additional conditions that we wanted to avoid for our client. This second round evaluation resulted in just a few preferred sites from which the final site was selected.

New Ventures Group carried out a three-phase approach, including site identification, analysis and aquisition. The first two phases consisted of the following tasks:

1. Development of basic site selection criteria
2. Compiliation of a "long list" of potential sites
3. Cursory-level analysis
4. Elimination of less desirable sites and documentation for rationale
5. Refinement of site selection criteria and establishment of "short list"
6. Further analysis of site finalists, including programmiing and appraisal
7. Selection of the preferred site

After approaching dozens of property owners, inquiring about availability and cost, the ideal site required the the assembly of four adjoining properties, none of which were originally listed for sale.

New Ventures Group recommended that the client use a combination of purchase and sale agreements, as well as option agreements, to document the transactions. This allowed the district to enter into concurrent purchase agreements while accommodating the various needs of the respective sellers. We were able to time the acquisition to allow the existing property owners (which included a horse farm) time to relocate prior to the district taking possession of the properties.