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Case Studies:

Leading Edge Academy Gilbert Early College & Guerrero Elementary School

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CASE STUDY 1:

Leading Edge Academy Gilbert Early College

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Background

Located in the Gilbert area of Metro Phoenix, what was once an Albertson’s grocery store vacated during the recession.  As you can see on the maps below, it is zoned as Shopping Center, allowing multiple uses to occur.  It is also located in proximity to major roads connecting to large residential areas.

In the context map, you can see how this site not only is surrounded by residential areas, but also has grocery food sources within proximity.  These sources range form grocery stores, discount stores, and big box stores that all carry a variety of produce and food products.  The number of schools lack in the area though.

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Conversion

In 2014, the long-vacated Albertson’s converted into a K-12 grade campus, serving elementary and high school students.  Using the large amount of space and utilizing its high ceilings, the school was constructed on two levels.  Elementary school students were on the ground floor, while the older students attended classes upstairs.  In total, enough classrooms have been constructed to fit 300 elementary school students and 350 high school students.  It also contains a lunch room and indoor basketball court.

Some major renovations of the building included construction for an upper floor and expansion, fixing lights, construction for more natural light, cleaning up, and removal of murals from what used to be the produce section of the old grocery store.

The conversion to school has been extremely successful for the academy and also community.  Students and their families take pride in their education facility, and it has greatly helped surrounding businesses and community involvement.

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CASE STUDY 2:

Guerrero Elementary School

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Background

Located in the Mesa area of Metro Phoenix, what was once a Smith’s grocery store is now an elementary school.  This Smith’s location was also affected during the recession, forcing the location to shutdown.  Prior to the conversion, the site was zoned as General Commercial, allowing multiple uses in a location that is prime for business along a commercial corridor.

In the context map, because the site is located on a commercial corridor, there are many grocery sources surrounding it.  While there are food sources, including grocery stores, discount stores, and big box stores, within proximity to the site, there are a lack of schools to cater to the residential areas bordering.

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Conversion

In 2010, the former Smith’s has been converted into a elementary school.  The space allows for development of classes, lunch room, and gyms.  Using the former parking lots surrounding the building, the development kept part of the original parking lot to cater to staff, visitors, and maintenance.  The remaining of the parking lot was converted into play fields, basketball courts, and recreational courts for the students.

The conversion to school has been successful for the residents, giving a public school within close proximity to many homes.  For surrounding businesses, it has boosted their sales.  Some challenges included the location being on a commercial corridor and safety concerns with traffic.  As a solution though, the parking lot was structured to border the street and traffic concerns, allowing area closer to the building to be converted for safe recreational activities.

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Financial Comparisons: Guerrero Elementary School

Below are rough cost estimates for building a school from an existing grocery stores versus building from scratch.  As you can see by using effective adaptive reuse from a retail space, it cuts down on almost half the costs compared new construction.  Since schools are funded by tax dollars, by reducing construction costs from building off an existing building, the community can utilize the rest of the money that is saved on more initiatives for the school’s education and activities.

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