Students at Barat Academy are expected to start classes Aug. 31 at a new location in St. Louis County that is larger and has more facilities than the school's former campus in Dardenne Prairie.
School President Debby Watson said Monday that Barat officials signed an agreement to move to the site of the former Gateway Academy at 17815 Wild Horse Creek Road in Chesterfield.
Watson would not say whether the academy was buying or leasing the facility.
The asking price for the Gateway site was listed at $8.5 million by CB Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate firm.
Gateway Academy, founded in 1992, closed its high school in 2009. The remaining pre-kindergarten and elementary school classes ended in May, she said.
Watson said Gateway is a "fully built school" with 30,000 more square feet on 34 acres. The site has a chapel, a large gymnasium and athletic fields.
That's in contrast to the limited facilities Barat used at its former location along Highway 40 in Dardenne Prairie. The 4-year-old school was evicted from that property as a result of a legal dispute over failure to pay rent.
Watson said Barat eventually can adapt the Gateway buildings to something similar to the Dardenne Prairie campus. Staff can get into the facility once inspections and approvals are finalized.
Watson said Barat, which is an independent Catholic high school, hopes to continue drawing students from St. Charles County. The school has students from 27 area ZIP codes, the largest number coming from four in St. Charles County, she said.
School officials said earlier they had narrowed their search to two locations. The Gateway property is about 11 miles from the Dardenne Prairie campus.
In January, the school was sued for nonpayment of $75,000 in rent. According to court documents, Barat did not pay its $25,000 monthly rent in November, December and January.
The landlord filing the lawsuit was a company called CP-SPE, LLC. Watson said the school attempted to negotiate a lease or purchase with various parties involved in the dispute, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and CP-SPE.
In June, the school agreed to a consent judgement that gave possession of the property to CP-SPE LLC and called for Barat to pay $216,000 in back rent and interest. The locks on the school were changed July 11 after a St. Charles County circuit judge signed an eviction order.
Watson said Barat officials had not received a response recently from CP-SPE. CB Richard Ellis listed the price of the Dardenne Prairie campus at $17 million.
"We've not heard from them (CP-SPE)," she said. "Obviously they don't want us, so we're moving out."
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