Bryant Miller Olive (BMO) served as legal counsel to nonprofit Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC) in connection with its capital financing to build a new 31,000-square-foot headquarters office building with street-level retail in the historic Anacostia neighborhood of the District of Columbia. Last week, the innovative and complex financing was selected as the Washington, D.C. Economic Partnership’s Michael V. Hodge DC Revenue Bond Program Deal of the Year for 2016.
BMO successfully structured, facilitated and executed the financing transaction, which used tax-exempt Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing to fund energy-efficient improvements. According to Urban Ingenuity, the District of Columbia PACE financing program (DC PACE) administrator, this is the first use of PACE with tax-exempt funds in the nation.
DC PACE provides private-sector capital to property owners for energy or water saving improvements, with 100 percent upfront financing to be repaid through a special assessment on the property owner’s tax bill.
“The FSFSC project demonstrates for the first time ever, how to use low-cost, tax-exempt financing to fund PACE projects and extend the construction budgets of community-based organizations,” said Bracken Hendricks, CEO of Urban Ingenuity. “PACE can drive down energy bills and lower the cost of building improvements for non-profit organizations like FSFSC, so they can put their precious dollars to work where they belong, serving the community and improving the lives of working people in Washington, D.C.”
When Bryant Miller Olive was engaged to serve as borrower’s counsel for FSFSC at the beginning of the project, it was anticipated to be a simple revenue bond-financing project for a local nonprofit. Nearly two years later, the financing morphed from a simple bond deal into a complex financing transaction consisting of a capital stack with six funding sources, including the first-ever tax-exempt PACE note financing in the country and revenue bonds issued through the DC Revenue Bond Program.
“By determining that the District could offer a tax-exempt benefit on its PACE notes issued for the benefit of a 501(c)(3) corporation like FSFSC, Bryant Miller Olive was able to identify an additional tax-exempt funding source for the FSFSC project,” said Keirston Woods, a partner with Bryant Miller Olive who led the law firm’s team on the project. “We are so pleased to have been able to be a part of this trailblazing transaction, working with such a commendable organization.”
The Michael V. Hodge DC Revenue Bond Deal of the Year Award recognizes the year’s top revenue bond financed deal that used unique financing structures and made a significant contribution to the District’s economic landscape. The award is named after the first director of the DC Revenue Bond Program in the Office of Planning and Economic Development.
Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative is a leading provider of supportive services to families in Ward 8, offering a range of services on a face-to-face and case-by-case basis as an extension of public services offered within the city. The total project cost is approximately $14.4 million funded through a $3 million grant from the District of Columbia, $2.2 million PACE equity contribution, $8.16 million of DC Revenue Bond debt and $1.25 million of FSFSC equity.
About Bryant Miller Olive: With a distinguished 45-year history of serving its clients’ needs, Bryant Miller Olive represents governments, businesses and agencies in legal matters relating to public finance, state and local government law, complex transactions, project finance, and litigation. The firm has served as Bond Counsel on more deals than any other firm in the Southeast over the past five years, and more than any other firm in Florida over the past decade. Members of the firm are often called upon to handle some of the most complex legal issues in the boardroom and in the courtroom. The firm has offices in Tampa, Tallahassee, Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit http://www.bmolaw.com.
Contact:
Diane Jones
727.992.6928 (cell)
SOURCE: Bryant Miller Olive
This press release is distributed by PR NewsChannel. Your News. Everywhere.
