Leveraging Real Estate Assets — Supporting the Educational Mission and Ensuring Positive Student Outcomes
At a time when school districts are being asked to do more with less, Al Grazioli, Vice President of Real Estate at Brailsford & Dunlavey, offered a provocative yet deeply practical lens for moving forward: treat your real estate portfolio not as a liability, but as a critical tool in fulfilling your educational mission.
View the full session:
In this one-on-one session, Grazioli—who previously served as Director of Real Estate and Business Development for Los Angeles Unified School District and now advises districts nationwide—delivered a powerful message: educational outcomes and asset stewardship are not competing goals. They are, in fact, deeply connected.
You’re in the business of education… but the business of education is not limited to lesson plans and taking attendance.
From Passive Ownership to Strategic Stewardship
Most districts think in terms of facilities planning, but few have true real estate strategies. That distinction matters, Grazioli explained. Facilities plans focus on maintenance and capital upgrades. A real estate strategy evaluates the entire portfolio—identifying underutilized properties, imagining new uses, and unlocking value that can support student-focused initiatives.
There’s a lot of other needs that the districts have that can’t be supported using the general fund,
he said, pointing to electric fleet infrastructure and workforce housing as prime examples.
The Reality of Declining Enrollment
Grazioli was direct about the difficult but necessary reality many districts face: fewer students, same number of buildings.
You’ve got a lot of facilities and not enough kids,” he said. “And unfortunately, that means that districts now have to go through the extraordinarily painful process of going out and having to close, consolidate, or optimize.
He urged district leaders to prepare for school consolidations by proactively developing adaptive reuse plans. Without a plan, closed schools become targets for criticism. But when sites are thoughtfully repurposed—into health clinics, early childhood centers, or workforce housing—they can continue serving students and the community, just in new ways.
Assets, Not Burdens
A central takeaway from the session: districts must reframe their view of land and buildings.
You have to start looking at real estate and your portfolio not as a liability, but as an asset,” Grazioli emphasized. “These assets have value.
He acknowledged that many district-owned properties carry emotional weight for communities, but avoiding difficult decisions only compounds the challenge. Moreover, districts don’t have to sell to benefit. They can lease, partner, or pursue joint occupancy to retain ownership while generating long-term value.
Why Most Districts Are Missing the Moment
Grazioli explained that many school systems lack internal capacity to pursue real estate strategy.
Most school districts don’t have a real estate person or real estate department,” he said. “And a lot of times within that department, they are facilities people.
Facilities teams are critical—but they’re trained in operations and compliance, not market analysis or deal structuring. To get this right, districts need a dedicated real estate lens and trusted advisors who can navigate the nuance.
Lead the Narrative—or Risk Losing Control of It
Real estate decisions are high-stakes and highly visible—especially when they involve school closures or redevelopment. Grazioli emphasized the importance of proactive communication and early community engagement. When stakeholders feel left out of the process, even well-intentioned projects can be derailed by backlash or misinformation.
He urged districts to build a communications strategy as early as they build the project plan itself. The narrative must be rooted in student benefit and long-term educational outcomes, not just financial or operational logic.
To ensure consistency across changing leadership, Grazioli recommended that districts memorialize their guiding values in board resolutions.
Board members change every four years,” he said. “If you don’t have a guiding framework, you get pulled in a hundred different directions
Real Estate That Serves the Mission
Every conversation about real estate, Grazioli argued, should come back to this: How does this support student outcomes?
That could mean using land for housing so teachers can live in the communities they serve. It might mean reallocating a surplus campus for childcare services, medical access, or after-school programming. Whatever the tactic, the north star remains the same.
We always have to remember why we’re doing it. We’re doing it to increase or create positive student outcomes.
From Cost Center to Opportunity Engine
This session was more than a tactical walkthrough. It was a call to leadership.
Grazioli challenged attendees to think beyond maintenance and compliance. “You have a duty to be good stewards of the real estate and the funds that the public gave you to do that job,” he said.
Unfortunately, what happens is we’re stewards of the children, but we’re not stewards of the assets.
In a time of constraint, your real estate portfolio might just be your district’s greatest untapped advantage. But only if you start treating it that way.