In September 2018, Buck Financial Advisors closed two ground-up construction transactions for Great Hearts Texas using senior and subordinated debt. The first transaction provided funding for Phase I of Great Hearts’ fourth campus in San Antonio to be named Great Hearts Forest Heights, which will open in August 2019. Forest Heights will open as a K-5 and Phase II will come in a few years to expand the campus to K-12. This transaction utilized $13 million in senior debt from the Facilities Investment Fund, a partnership between the Walton Family Foundation, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Civic Builders, and $2 million in subordinated debt.
The second transaction was for an expansion of the Great Hearts Irving campus. Irving currently resides in leased space and offers grades K-9 and will continue to serve students at this location once the new campus is open. The new campus on Carbon Road in Irving will allow Great Hearts to expand both grade offerings and class size beginning fall 2019. This financing utilized $12 million in senior bank debt and almost $3.5 million in sub-debt.
Buck Financial Advisors has helped Great Hearts Texas with over $76 million in senior-sub financings for four campuses since 2014, including a refinance of the first loans in 2014, which included a total of just under $15 million in subordinate debt. These financings have the ability to be refinanced very efficiently when Great Hearts Texas qualifies for the Bond Guarantee Program in Texas, as which time we will refinance outstanding debt with Permanent School Fund debt, as well as fund new projects going forward.
Congratulations to Great Hearts for two more successful financings as they bring their classical American educational model to more and more students in Texas.