Anaverde to Build School in Master-planned Community

PALMDALE, Calif. — Anaverde LLC announced the unanimous approval of an agreement with Westside Union School District, by which Anaverde LLC will undertake the construction and development of the first elementary school in the Anaverde master-planned community.

Anaverde LLC is a partnership between Empire Companies and KB Home. The master-planned community, located in the foothills of Palmdale, provides for a mix of residential, commercial, golf course, recreational, open space and community facility uses, with more than 5,000 planned residential units.

The new elementary school will be the first of at least two elementary schools for Anaverde. It will be a developer-built school using the recently completed Esperanza School as the design template. The school will reside on approximately 11 acres and consist of 62,000 square feet with the capacity to serve 750 students.

Anaverde LLC is bearing the risk of cost increases and providing benefits, such as payment of district costs, funds for furniture and equipment, and early contributions for busing and computer facilities. The agreement is intended to ensure the timely completion of a facility consistent with other schools in the district.

This will be the third developer-built school sponsored by Jim Previti and Empire Companies. In 2000, Previti opened the first developer-built school in California , Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Eagle Glen. Since the opening of that campus, Empire Companies has continued to build schools in its master-planned communities.

Work has begun on the Westside Union School District site and the school design and construction will be under way shortly. The school is expected to open in time for the 2007 school year.