Earl Monroe Charter School signs a 31-year lease in the South Bronx

At today’s groundbreaking for the Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School in the South Bronx, all eyes will be on the school’s namesake, a legendary player known as Earl the Pearl, as well as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and others dignitaries.

But it will mark a victory for the developer, Kiumarz Geula of Great Neck, who formed a joint venture that acquired the nearly century-old building at 647 Elton Avenue and two adjacent properties on East 153rd Street, then built a 31-year-old, three-storey signed contract. -net lease with the charter school at $49 per square foot.

The joint venture includes previous property owner David Damaghi. The property on Elton Avenue was transferred to Damaghi by Mansour Damaghi in 2001, ownership records show. Both Damaghis also hail from Great Neck, a bastion of dynastic real estate families.

(It could not be determined Thursday whether they are related to the Great Neck family led by Nasser and Shahnaz Damaghi, who made a fortune in paper and personal care products, and their children Nader, Kambiz and Babak Damaghi. The family recently purchased at least $182 million in development sites in South Florida.)

Geula, head of Pillar Property Management, secured a $21 million loan from Bank of Hope to finance the project in the Melrose section of the Bronx. Total development costs for the 69,000-square-foot building are expected to be $35 million.

The new building’s design, led by IMC Architecture and ESKW/Architects, includes an unusual requirement: an 8,000-square-foot gymnasium, as well as a dedicated broadcast studio.

“This is not a standard charter school design,” Geula said in an interview. “The school’s design is more expensive than other charter schools and was custom designed for this specific tenant.”

Because purpose-built space for charter schools has a limited choice of tenants – the number of charters in New York is limited – developers generally require long-term leases, as do schools, which need the stability to attract students and thus public funding . .

The rent for 647 Elton Avenue will increase by 1 to 2 percent per year. “Very standard” for charter schools, said Geula, whose company has done other charter school projects, according to its website.

Construction is expected to be completed in early 2026 and the Earl Monroe School, named for the Hall of Fame guard who helped the Knicks win the 1973 championship, will serve 440 students in grades 9 through 12.

The development team consists of JV Construction & Consulting and Brisa Builders. Jack S. Irushalmi, CEO of Tri-Star Construction, sits on the school’s board of trustees.

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