Prince George’s County Public Schools Phase 1

In 2021, the Maryland State Department of Education introduced the Blueprint Schools initiative designed to rapidly modernize PGCPS’s aging school portfolio as well as establish new schools in geographic areas where changes in population deemed them necessary. As part of this program, PGCPS committed to investing $25-$30 million in construction funding each year over the next 30 years to create state-of-the-art learning environments for students and teachers across the county.

PGCPS selected Prince George’s County Education and Community Partners (PGCECP), a consortium to design, build, finance, and maintain six new schools for 2023 delivery. As a vertically integrated team, Gilbane served as a developer and design builder. The first phase of the program features five new middle schools – Drew-Freeman, Hyattsville, Kenmoor, Walker Mill, and Sonia Sotomayor at Adelphi – and one K-8 school – Colin L. Powell K-8 Academy.

The project’s pioneering delivery approach is the first of its kind for a U.S. public school system. The project approach built new schools faster, cut the delivery time in half, lowered construction costs, and implemented preventative maintenance while advancing economic inclusion goals through diverse and local business utilization. The project exceeded local economic and inclusion goals through diverse and local business engagement by awarding 34.8 percent of contracts ($140 million) to Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), including $65 million awarded to MBE County-Based Businesses.

The first phase of the program replaced the aging infrastructure of six schools and provided a state-of-the-art learning environment to 8,000 students across the county. The unique design-build-finance-maintain delivery of the program under the public-private partnership reduced the time needed to open the six schools from 12 years to just 3 years. Gilbane undertook an unprecedented construction project – concurrently coordinating work at six sites with multiple shared subcontractors. While this can be complex, it creates efficiency, innovation, and lean practice opportunities. Gilbane’s project team leveraged knowledge-transfer as subcontractors completed work on one site and moved to the next.

PGCECP is dedicated to reducing the racial wealth gap by providing equity opportunities to minority companies. The program conducted 13 outreach events that attracted over 800 attendees, including four matchmaking events that connected 136 MBE/CBB/CBSBs with over 160 companies expressing interest in bidding on packages. The project reached a total spend for MBE/CBB equaling $205 million.

The program is making an ongoing positive impact on communities throughout Prince George’s County in several ways. Gilbane is partnering with Prince George’s County Community College to contribute $60,000 to 30 students pursuing degrees in construction management, engineering, and information technology over three years. Blueprint Schools also created a $1 MM endowed fund to support students and educators, along with student internships, mentoring opportunities, and apprenticeships, as part of PGCP’s Alternative Construction Finance Program. Additionally, the PGCECP team has been involved in the local community on several levels throughout the project, including PTA support with fundraiser and coat, book, food drives, and community volunteer activities.

Project Overview

• Design, build, finance, and maintain (DBFM) six new schools as part of an alternative delivery approach through a public-private partnership (P3) with Prince George’s County Public Schools and Prince George’s County
• PGCPS estimates that it saved nearly $400 million in construction and deferred maintenance costs. Bundling the schools created numerous efficiencies, overlapping construction processes and creating one timeline, not six, for design and construction.
• Turning building maintenance over to Honeywell will save PGCPS an estimated $170 million over 30 years.
• Designed to LEED Silver standards
• Team: Gilbane Development Company and Fengate as developers; Gilbane Building Company as design builder; Stantec as designer and architect of record; and Honeywell as the services provider