Developers of K-12 real estate often face a difficult choice when it comes to modernizing aging school facilities: tear down older buildings or try to renovate and repurpose obsolete real estate?

Both sides of the coin come with pros and cons. On the one hand, razing allows schools to make important operational improvements to traffic flows and student movement to increase student safety, as well as maximize building usage. On the other hand, older buildings often have historic character or features that are worth rehabilitating — although building age is a primary consideration in the equation.

“We've had the lesson over and over that we are leaning more towards tearing down and starting over when it’s a 50-plus-year-old building,” Eric Holm, director of facilities construction for Palo Alto Unified School District, said during a panel discussion on Aug. 5 at Bisnow’s inaugural Northern California K-12 real estate summit at Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco’s Japantown neighborhood.

Holm highlighted a recent renovation project where a building was stripped to its core, temporary shoring was installed to hold up the roof, and the majority of structural steel columns were wrapped with high-strength carbon fabric for increased tensile strength. In the end, the roof was the only part of the building that wasn’t replaced.

“The building was literally Swiss cheese,” Holm said. “When we got done, we asked our architect, ‘Why did we do this?’”

Project scope plays a big part in modernization discussions, added Nathan Herrero, principal and vice president at SVA Architects’ Pleasanton office. Modernization efforts can encompass a broad spectrum, from a lighter touch replacing finishes and refreshing paint to a more intensive approach that requires heavy construction and significant structural engineering.

Outdated low-slung masonry buildings are prime candidates for razing, while buildings with defining characteristics might be worth saving, Herrero added.

He recalled a project built with laminated timber and surrounded by old-growth trees that his team decided to preserve.

“But if you have got a masonry building, just knock it down and move on,” he said.

“Think about it upfront and consider it carefully,” Herrero added. “Don't throw away something that's great, but if it's marginal and you are going to rip everything down to change the use completely, rip off the bandage and go for replacement.”

Demographic shifts leading to declining enrollment also play a big part in the modernization equation. Enrollments are often stagnant or dwindling at schools in dense urban cores, while enrollment is exploding at suburban educational facilities.

Sacramento City Unified School District, for instance, has room for about 57,000 students, with an enrollment of just 36,000, said Matt Juchniewicz, director of facilities design and construction at the district. From a cost perspective, modernization doesn’t pencil for schools when enrollment will likely fall even further in coming years.

“Looking at these projects on a per-square-foot basis, why would we modernize for students that might not even be there?” he said.

With school consolidation likely, older and lesser-used buildings may be scrapped in favor of erecting new middle or high schools that could draw more students from larger geographical areas, Juchniewicz added.

Modern school design often includes a nod to utilizing that square footage throughout the school day, either through creation of student union areas or in ways that open up educational facilities to the broader community.

“There's some real future in systems where you can build large spans and open, clear spaces with as minimal obstructions as possible,” Herrero said.

Redwood City School District engaged DLR Group of San Francisco to design family centers at eight schools in the district that transformed unused space into dedicated community hubs. The family-facing community centers provide assistance such as food and clothing, educational workshops and immigration guidance. The work was funded by school improvement and modernization bond Measure S, passed in 2022.

“We're thinking about what schools can be and what schools are in different ways,” said Juan Pagan, senior project manager at DLR Group’s San Francisco office. “Thinking about what a school is and how it can grow into the future is a big part of what we’re all figuring out right now.”

Salinas City Elementary School District is creating community centers at nine of its schools. The decision was sparked in part by weighing the cost of transforming little-used multipurpose rooms into kitchen areas versus creating a new central kitchen facility, said Amna Javed, director of bond projects for the district.

Some Bay Area school districts that have surplus real estate from campus closures have shifted use from education to workforce housing. Jefferson Unified School District created 122 new units of teacher housing in Serramonte in 2022, and Pacifica School District has 70 units underway after razing the shuttered Oddstad Elementary School.

Calistoga Joint Unified School District is creating 130 units of subsidized teacher housing in Calistoga in Napa County, said Lev Weisbach, Rivercrest Partners senior vice president and managing partner for the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Teachers are commuting long distances to their jobs, or there's a high turnover rate that translates into additional costs for the district by having to recruit and retain employees,” Weisbach said. “There's a win-win if you can take surplus land and figure out a way to turn it into a positive rather than a negative.”