Brentwood High School in Los Angeles, Calif., leased 22.06 acres of land from the VA to build a $4.5 million athletics facility, an agreement that began in 2001. Last week, the VA announced it would be terminating the school’s lease.
According to Circling The News, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals claimed the lease violated federal law and “the department has been underpaid by more than $40 million per year based on the fair market value of the properties.”
In the past 25 years, Brentwood High School built an aquatics center, stadium, tennis courts, weight room and fitness center on the property. The original lease also allowed veterans to use the facilities when not in use by student-athletes.
The VA allegedly leased several parcels of land for non-veteran use, including to an Enterprise Rent-a-Car lot, a hotel laundry facility and the UCLA baseball stadium. However, in 2013, a federal judge stepped in, ruling that the VA could not lease the land for profit. In the wake of that ruling, all leases were terminated with the exception of Brentwood High School and UCLA.
Since 2013, Brentwood High School has paid $850,000 per year to lease the land and $918,000 per year to “non-monetary consideration,” defined as repair and upkeep of facilities.
“These groups have been fleecing taxpayers and Veterans for far too long,” VA secretary Doug Collins said. “And under President Trump, VA is taking decisive action to ensure the West LA VAMC (Medical Center) campus is used only as intended: to benefit Veterans.”
With the termination of the lease, the VA has not commented on what will happen to Brentwood High School’s facilities, but the school and the organization are reportedly discussing solutions. As of Feb. 10, student-athletes at Brentwood were still actively using the athletics facilities.
“We look forward to that meeting with hopes of preserving our longstanding relationship and the extensive services Brentwood School provides that so many Veterans value,” Brentwood High School administrators said in a statement.
