Andre Agassi, the world’s former No. 1 tennis player, had a punishing backhand that led to points against his opponents. Now, as a charter school developer, his company has found a way to get in and out of deals quickly and turn a profit.
Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities sold the Franklin Academy at 5000 Southwest 207th Terrace in Pembroke Pines for $60.5 million to Erudite Properties, led by Scott Sznitken, Executive Director of Florida Charter Foundation, records show.
The property totals 162,672 square feet, equating to a price of $372 per square foot.
Turner-Agassi bought the property in 2015 for $10.1 million. The K-12 school was constructed in 2016. In total, the campus spans 40 acres, according to its website.
Turner-Agassi’s strategy is to act as a “bridge developer” for charter schools, fronting the cost for site selection and construction and then leasing the property to a charter school operator. The group then sells the property to the charter operator once it reaches its enrollment goal, according to Turner-Agassi’s website.
The strategy has proven successful in the past. In 2016, Turner-Agassi sold a Boynton Beach charter school for $22.3 million. The same year it also sold Franklin Academy in Cooper City for $20 million.
Turner-Agassi has developed 96 schools serving 48,976 students across the country. The fund plans to invest an additional $500 million to develop 65 more schools serving another 25,000 students, according to its website.
Charter schools are becoming an increasingly popular real estate investment for developers, as the supply of available locations narrows, financing becomes more readily available and demand grows for non-traditional schools in Florida.