Lobdell land bought for new charter school

A Minnesota-based developer has purchased a 52,000-square-foot office building on Lobdell Avenue for $1.3 million, and has plans to turn it into a charter school. Ryan Companies US Inc. purchased the building at 1900 N. Lobdell Ave. on Monday and will renovate the building for Charter Schools USA, which plans to house a new school on the 6-acre campus, says Steve Legendre of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, who represented Ryan in the deal. Jonathan Starns of Donnie Jarreau Real Estate represented the seller, Educational Management Services. The previous tenants at the property, which include Baton Rouge College, have been relocated, Legendre says. Charter Schools USA is taking applications for students in grades K-6 and plans to open the Baton Rouge Charter Academy at Mid City in August, according to the group’s website. The site says the school will teach kindergarten through sixth-grade students during the 2013-14 school year, with seventh- and eighth-grade classes to be added “in subsequent years.” Charter Schools USA says it manages 48 schools across the country. The group has a rendering of the Baton Rouge school that you can check out here. —April Castro