Facility Cost Check
Compare the full monthly cost picture of a lease against an acquisition path, including the renovation up-front, so you can see what each option leaves for the rest of the school. Free to use, no account needed.
What the comparison covers
- Monthly all-in occupancy cost for a lease, not base rent alone
- The acquisition path, including debt service and the up-front renovation
- Cost per student at your planned enrollment
- Operating costs that shift between landlord and school depending on the structure
Why base rent understates the real number
A commercial lease routinely adds common area maintenance, tenant insurance requirements, triple-net pass-throughs such as property tax and building insurance, and annual escalations across the term. Two buildings quoted at the same rent per square foot can land far apart once those lines are counted.
On the acquisition side, the up-front renovation and closing costs usually dominate the first year, so comparing a lease payment against a mortgage payment alone hides most of the decision.
Taking it to your board
The output is a planning-level comparison you can put in front of a board or a lender as a starting point for diligence. Pair it with the Lease Analyzer once you have an actual lease document in hand.
What Space does not decide
SchoolStack Space produces planning-level estimates that help you ask better questions before you commit to a building. It does not determine legal use, zoning, building code outcomes, certificate of occupancy, licensing, insurance, authorizer decisions, or financing.
Treat every number here as a starting range to verify with your architect, your local planning and building departments, the fire marshal, and your authorizer or licensing agency.
Frequently asked questions
Should a new school lease or buy its building?
It depends on how long the program will stay in the space, how much renovation the building needs, and what capital the school can raise. Facility Cost Check lays the two paths side by side with the renovation counted up front so the comparison is complete. It reports the cost picture and leaves the decision with your board.
What is included in the monthly cost of a school lease?
Base rent is only the starting line. Depending on the lease structure you may also carry common area maintenance, property tax and building insurance pass-throughs, tenant insurance requirements, utilities, janitorial, maintenance, and annual escalations.
Does Facility Cost Check tell me what my school can afford?
No. Space reports the planning-level cost picture. Testing that cost against your revenue model belongs in SchoolStack Budget at budget.schoolstack.ai, and the final call belongs to your board and your lender.