In October 2021, IPS Enterprises, Inc. closed on two construction loans for a previously acquired property in Cincinnati which will house IDEA Price Hill, the first campus for IDEA Greater Cincinnati and IDEA’s first campus of their expansion into Ohio. Price Hill is scheduled to open in Fall 2022.
IPS had previously acquired the property earlier this year. The project will renovate the former Cincinnati Christian University campus into a K-12 campus and the regional headquarters of Greater Cincinnati. Price Hill is one of the areas in Hamilton County that is in need of educational alternatives such as those provided by IDEA.
Central Bank & Trust provided the senior loan, with BlueHub Capital and Local Initiative Support Corporation providing critical subordinate debt. About three weeks from the planned closing, the appraisal came back with a disappointing value, preventing CB&T from advancing as much as they had planned. BlueHub and LISC stepped up to fill the lion’s share of the gap, and the project truly could not have moved forward without them. Both senior and subordinate lenders were great partners on the project, working very hard to provide the funding in a manner which will allow Greater Cincinnati to grow as planned. Grant funding from Accelerate Great Schools in Cincinnati also was an important part of the funding mix.
Buck Financial Advisors served as financial advisor to IPS Enterprises, Inc. Other members of the working group include Hunton Andrews Kurth as counsel to IPS, Dickinson-Wright as counsel to IDEA Greater Cincinnati, Krokidas & Bluestein LLP as counsel to BlueHub, & Frost Brown Todd LLC as counsel to Central Bank & Trust. PMSI of Austin Texas is serving as project manager for the redevelopment and construction.
Congratulations to IDEA Greater Cincinnati, the families in the Price Hill area, and to all who worked so hard to help IDEA’s launch into Cincinnati.