“Working with the HJ Sims team throughout the underwriting process has been an exceptional experience. Kaiti, John, and Rob brought a wealth of expertise and provided invaluable guidance at every step. Despite the challenges of a tight timeline, their diligence and professionalism ensured that we successfully closed our financing on time, enabling us to start construction as planned.
Their ability to navigate complex financing requirements with precision and efficiency was instrumental in bringing this critical phase of our project to fruition. Thanks to their support, we are well-positioned to take the next steps in realizing our vision for La Scuola’s future.”
– Serdar Orazov, La Scuola, Chief Financial Officer
Partnered Right®
La Scuola is a nonprofit recognized as an Italian Accredited School abroad by the Ministry of Education in Italy. La Scuola is the only International Baccalaureate school located in San Francisco, California. The school currently operates from three campuses, all located in the San Francisco area, and serves 436 students in preschool through eighth grade.
In 2024, HJ Sims was hired to assist in financing the construction of a new main building at the school’s current Mission Campus and to remodel the Dogpatch and Silicon Valley Campus. The main building project includes the addition of an approximately 20,370 square foot building. The building will have 10 classrooms, 1 dining and kitchen area, five offices, and an occupiable roof. The project will allow the school to provide a permanent K-8 campus and fulfill enrollment needs of 450 students.
Structured Right®
The project was funded with $34.85 million of tax-exempt, Series 2024 bonds. The bond proceeds were allocated to $30.3 million of project fund deposits, $3.4 million to fund capitalized interest and a debt service reserve fund, with the remainder used for delivery date expenses. La Scuola has pledged all legally available revenues and bondholders have security in a leasehold deed of trust, and a debt service reserve fund.
Executed Right®
Sims brought the 2024 bonds to the market on September 23rd and received significant demand from 8 institutions. During the initial pricing period, Sims received $192,400,000 in orders for bonds which were 5.5x oversubscribed. In response to the high demand, Sims reduced the coupons for the 2054 and 2064 term bonds by 12.5 basis points. Sims also lowered yields by 2.5-5 basis points across maturities, offering a total of $34,845,000 in bonds.
Financed Right®
Sims priced the deal on September 26, 2024 and closed October 8, 2024. The issuance consisted of three term bonds with a final maturity of 40 years. The bonds were nonrated and the first term bond maturing in 2044 has an anytime call option at par. Sims was able to land La Scuola a true interest cost of 5.35%.
For more information, please contact:
John Solarczyk
949.244.1679