SLPS real estate committee hears PACE financing pitch for occupied and vacant school buildings

St. Louis Public Schools’ Real Estate Committee heard a presentation on Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, financing during an open-session meeting, with Navigate Building Solutions outlining how the Missouri Clean Energy District program could fund energy and renovation work on both occupied and vacant district buildings.

The presentation described PACE as a state-authorized financing mechanism set out in Missouri statutes 67.28–67.284 and administered through the Missouri Clean Energy District (MCED). “PACE is the property assessed clean energy,” Chaz Jaquis, owner’s representative for SLPS from Navigate Building Solutions, told the committee, adding that the program is available through state channels and a St. Louis portion of the program exists.

Why it matters: Committee members raised how PACE could be used to preserve and upgrade district assets, and how any PACE financing would travel with a property’s deed if the district later sold a building. That affects long-term real-estate strategy for properties such as the district’s 801 building and the Northwest facility, both of which were discussed during the meeting.

Navigate explained what types of work typically qualify for PACE financing — energy and mechanical upgrades, renovations to public buildings and related improvements — and described potential project delivery approaches, including energy-service company (ESCO) contracts or traditional design-bid-build projects. Jaquis said PACE can be structured as tax-exempt financing, and payments on PACE loans can be deferred for up to three years in some structures, allowing projects to begin before payments start.

Corey Beckstermueller, Navigate’s K–12 market leader, said that PACE funding is recorded on the deed and therefore remains with the property: “It goes with the deed of the building. So the new owner of the building would assume whatever financing attached, because the financing is in the deed of the building,” he said.

Committee members asked whether PACE applies to both occupied and vacant buildings and whether it could be used together with other funding streams. Committee President Monica Cousins and Board members confirmed that PACE could be used on occupied or unoccupied properties and that it would be an additional financing tool alongside existing sources. The committee cited Prop S federal dollars as an example of other funding being used for infrastructure work: one speaker described $4,250,000 in federal funds allocated for infrastructure redesign at Northwest and said PACE could cover complementary or additional improvements.

Committee members also asked about application steps and examples from other districts. Beckstermueller said the district submits an application through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and that the process resembles other state-administered application processes; he said he did not review the DNR site for other school-district case studies during the presentation and offered to confirm specific eligibility questions such as demolition.

No formal financing decision or contract award was made in open session. After the presentation and a question-and-answer exchange, the committee moved to adjourn open session and enter closed session.

Votes at a glance: The committee voted to adjourn open session and go into closed session; the motion passed on the roll call with five recorded “yes” votes (Miss Shamika Henry: yes; Chief Watson: yes; Dr. Borshay: yes; Secretary Jones: yes; President Cousins: yes). The motion’s mover and seconder were not specified in the public transcript.