IDEA Louisiana both solidified its existing operations and set the table for further expansion in Baton Rouge, with the closing of two acquisition financings in October 2020.
IDEA Innovation Academy has been operating since the fall of 2018 in a facility owned by New Schools for Baton Rouge and leased to IDEA. The facility is approximately 75,000 sq. ft. and sits on about 10 acres. With a $17.5 million loan from the Equitable Facilities Fund, IPS Enterprises, Inc. has acquired (through a related entity) the facility which Louisiana will continue to lease. This financing culminates a multi-year effort to acquire the facility with permanent financing, and will save Innovation hundreds of thousands in lease payments going forward.
Innovation is a K-9 academy serving just under 800 students in the 2020-21 school year, up f rom just under 600 in fiscal 2020. Located in South Baton Rouge, last year Innovation was in the top 10 schools in Louisiana for growth in their academic results, along with its sister school, IDEA Bridge Academy.
Additionally, IPS Enterprises, Inc. closed on a land acquisition loan for their third campus in Baton Rouge. This loan was provided by Home Bank, and allowed IPS to take down the land without further extending the PSA. Home Bank and Blue Hub have both approved construction loans, but the timing of the land takedown necessitated a quicker turnaround, so Home Bank agreed to make the take down loan. The $16 million total in construction loans should close within the next 60 days or so, and will finance the construction of an approximately 75,000 sq. ft. facility on approximately 15 acres. This third Baton Rouge academy of IDEA’s will open in Fall 2021 in temporary facilities, and is expected to move into the new facility in January 2022.
Buck Financial Advisors LLC served as Financial Advisor on both transactions. Hunton Andrews Kurth served as borrower’s counsel on both, and Baker Donelson served as counsel to IDEA Louisiana for both. Thank you to the lenders on each transaction, and congratulations to the students, families and staff of IDEA Louisiana.