Long-vacant Baltimore building will become public middle/high school

From The Baltimore Sun: An unusual public-private funding plan will transform the long-vacant Lebow Brothers Clothing Factory in Baltimore into a school. City schools CEO Andrés Alonso hopes that the Baltimore Design School's financial model — which includes funds from a developer, tax credits and private bonds — also can be used to help pay the multibillion-dollar cost of improving the district's dilapidated infrastructure. The school board has signed a $1.7 million annual lease for the middle/high school, which will occupy the Lebow building beginning in 2013. The building has been vacant for 30 years. The Design School will operate out of a vacant school building beginning this fall, until the Lebow building is ready.