HYATTSVILLE, MD-Chelsea School has inked a lease for 24,000 square feet at Prince George's Station here. The school is moving into new office space that will be converted into school rooms, with direct elevator access and an outdoor play court.

The property is owned by Westbrook Properties. Lisa Benjamin with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented Chelsea School in the deal. The mixed-use project is located adjacent to the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station. Retail tenants in the building include Staples, Bob's Furniture, and LA Fitness.

A school as a tenant in office, or even mixed-used space, is unusual--but growing increasingly less so, Benjamin tells GlobeSt.com. Building owners, as leasing has slowed down in many markets, are more open to schools as tenants, even with the necessary retrofits that must be done, she says. "Schools, too, see the value of being a tenant in an urban location. They have an interest in being in locations that have an urban feel so their students get a sense of what the job market is like and a working environment in general."

For some schools, she says, it is preferable than being in a more remote location.

As part of the deal Chelsea School secured a tenant improvement allowance that will let it build out the space to its specifications. "It will be up and running in time for the 2013/2014 school year," she says.