CHARLOTTESVILLE (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors approved the leasing of its Oak Lawn property in Fifeville to Charlottesville City Schools during its meeting on Friday.

The news was announced in a joint statement from the university, UVA Health, the City of Charlottesville and Charlottesville schools.

“We are thankful that our ongoing conversations with UVA have produced an opportunity to collaborate on using the Oak Lawn property to meet a critical community need,” Charlottesville city manager Sam Sanders said in the statement. “Our priority is to address the schools needs while recognizing there may be additional opportunities for community benefit.”

The decision comes after the federal government’s decision to award the Federal Executive Institute property to UVA despite initially awarding it to the city schools.

In a Tuesday morning message, Superintendent Dr. Royal Gurley wrote, “Although we are in the initial stage of exploring possibilities for this site, I believe that this property would enable Cville Schools to achieve many of the benefits for student that we initially envisioned in our proposal to acquire the Federal Executive Institute this spring. That includes expansion of programs such as early childhood education, alternative learning, and career and technical education.”