Rent vs. Own
For 4 years, ILM Academy has been renting space in a business park – expanding twice to keep up with growing enrollment, Alhamdulillah. At this point, not only have we have run out of space in the current facility, but our lease is expiring at the end of the 2012-2013 school year (July 2013). Renewing the lease is not an option without renting additional space, which in turn requires renovation and build out. Costs for a year's rent and build out are estimated around $130K. This is too large of an expense to bear just for a single year. In addition, the current facility cannot accommodate an outdoor play facility for the students, an essential need identified by all ILM Academy stakeholders.
Moving into a different rental facility would require a multi-year lease commitment and allocation of a large sum of money to customize the facility for the school.
Build vs. Buy (existing)
Given declines in real estate values in recent years, purchasing a land and building a purpose built facility is the most time consuming and cost prohibitive of options at this time. On the other hand, the property we're purchasing is a great deal: it is priced significantly less than the cost of an undeveloped plot of land. In addition, it can be converted quickly and economically into a school building with comparatively minor construction effort and costs.
