An outfit called Educational Ventures is buying Windrush School for $6.9 million, according to a letter from Wells Fargo to the holders of Windrush School’s revenue bonds.
Dated Sept. 10, the letter states that the buyer has 45 days to complete due diligence and that the purchase price will be paid in cash at closing.
According to the California Secretary of State’s office, Educational Ventures is an LLC registered in San Francisco and incorporated on August 1 of this year.
Windrush declared bankruptcy almost a year ago. In March, the bankruptcy filing was dismissed with prejudice
Lord Abbett, the investment firm that bought most of the school's $13 million in construction bonds, filed suit on July 13 seeking damages from 17 individuals identified in the suit as school board members at the time the bonds were issued in 2007.
You did suggest this site for the new Portola, and people have responded -- more than once, as I recall. First of all, the plans for the new Portola have been in progress for years, and a significant amount of district money invested. And second, if I recall correctly, this site is not large enough to accommodate Portola's population and traffic. Third, there are problems with the physical site for a public school, because there are significant safety requirements -- and the main building is unreinforced concrete, and very close to the Hayward fault. Marty, I feel your frustration, because those Portola kids need something besides the portable classrooms. But there were reasons the Portola to Windrush idea was unworkable.
For those who don't know, the main building was originally an orphanage for Chinese boys, the only one in the U.S., supported by the Baptist Church because state-run orphanages did not admit minorities. (A counterpart orphanage for Chinese girls was run by the Presbyterian Church down the Peninsula.) The boys attended local public schools, became good citizens, and nine of them gave their lives in defense of the U.S. during World War II. The orphanage was closed in about 1954 when state-run orphanages became integrated.
LLP = Limited Liability Partnership.