Dear Friends, we are starting our next project for the first development phase of the building that the City of Bryan gifted us last year (valued at $500K), The Ice House in Downtown Bryan. We will be raising $950K using our standard community development fundraising model. The investment is quite simple, it is similar to a CD but it pays a little more interest – details follow:
– Note amount: $5,000 minimum, in $5,000 increments – Interest paid: 3.7% APR for a 12 month note 4.7% APR for a 24 month note It will be great if you can participate and continue to invest in our community. Below please find the phase one layout of the facility. In the front of the building we plan to add a restaurant with a full bar, a micro brewery, an espresso bar, and an events center. In the back we will have an extension of our technology and business incubator.
:: Investment Example ::
As an example, here is a two year ten thousand dollar investment payment schedule. Will make two payments per year, the first one for half of the annual interest 30 days after the issuance of the note and the second half of the annual interest 6 months after (so we will be paying interest in advance in order to simplify our administrative process) as follows:
– $10K investment
– 24 months term (4.7% APR)
– Payment 1 (30 day anniversary) $ 235
– Payment 2 (Six month anniversary) $ 235
– Payment 3 (12 month anniversary) $ 235
– Payment 4 (18 month anniversary) $ 235
– Payment 5 (24 month anniversary) $10,000
:: Long Term Strategy ::
In the long term, and we are actually starting the application process this summer, we will be putting in place two alternate funding plans.
Our preferred path will be to use the New Market Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program) funding as the Ice House qualifies for this type of funding. That will allow us to retire the notes with a tax credit (meaning we will save probably 14% or more of the amount we finance and we will pass a portion of that to our investors and support team to cover the notes’ principal and interest costs.
As an alternative we will be preparing a conventional equity investment offering complemented by conventional (from a financial institution) long term debt funding.
:: Photo Gallery ::
For additional photos of the Ice House, please visit the Ice House Photo Gallery.
:: FAQs ::
q. How will we pay interest for the notes during the early stages of the project while you do not have income?
a. We will be covering interest payments form our (AdventGX) operations revenue and we will plan to conduct a number of fundraising (and crowd funding) events in different downtown venues. We will also be launching a Kickstarter.com campaign in a couple of months.
q. When will you be able to open the Ice House?
a. We would like to get the first stage finished by the end of this year. We already have several events that we can hold at the community space and we plan to, as a first tenant, open the Micro Brewery as soon as possible. The coffee shop will probably be the second entity with the Restaurant a few months later.
q. How can I help?
a. Funding will be great at this point but will also need volunteers, advocates and promotion support. We will send an email with more information on this front in a couple of weeks.