Ziegler Closes $7.975 Million Financing For Grace Christian Church
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) January 28, 2015 -- Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, is pleased to announce the successful closing of the $7,975,000 Series 2014 Bond issue for Grace Christian Church, Sterling Heights, Michigan, a new client to Ziegler.
Grace Christian Church began in 1980 with a group of 20 people. The congregation gathered in rented facilities until 1986, when the church purchased a 24,000 square-foot elementary school in Warren, Michigan. In 1992, a 108,000 square foot campus on 18 acres of land became available, and the church entered into a lease for the property. When the lease was up in 1995, the church purchased the facility, and the congregation grew in that location to over 800. In 2006, the Church sold its then existing facility and purchased its current 111,034 square-foot worship facility in Sterling Heights. After completing renovations to the building, the grand opening of the new facility was held in 2007. Today, the church has an average weekly worship attendance of 3,000.
In 2007, the church executed a promissory bank note to fund the acquisition and renovation of its current worship facility. In 2013, the church executed an additional bank note and three small individual notes to refinance then existing debt. The bank notes had maturity dates of January 2016, and the church elected to refinance the notes now in order to secure a long-term, fixed interest rate. Proceeds of the 2014 Bonds were used to redeem the bank notes and the individual notes, which lowered the church’s annual debt service by an amount that will save the church approximately $123,800 per year.
“With a challenging economic environment in Michigan the last several years, and while spending significant time working through applications for a permanent loan structure, Ziegler became a perfect fit for our refinance needs. Our appraisal situation in the metropolitan Detroit area has been volatile for years and it made the process of re-financing our building every three to five years a challenge. The fixed-rate, the long-term amortization, and the fact that we never have to do this again, made the best business sense to our organization. The team at Ziegler walked us through a very aggressive timeline and everything worked out beautifully. As leaders, we have better things to do with our time, so I would highly recommend this strategy for an organization looking for long-term solutions,” commented Jerry Weinzierl, Lead Pastor of Grace Christian Church.
“For several years, Grace Christian Church had been searching for a permanent solution to their short-term bank loans. The challenging Michigan economy was just one of several hurdles. When we presented Ziegler’s plan of a long-term fixed-rate bond issue and showed them the significant annual savings that would be realized, the church leadership team was very pleased and moved forward with the process. We completed the financing on a very expedited timeline and it was a pleasure to work with their leadership group,” stated Dave Schlosser, managing director in Ziegler’s religion & education practice.
Since our first financing in 1913, Ziegler has become a recognized leader in providing creative, tailored solutions to religious and educational institutions. Focusing on multidenominational places of worship, charter schools and K-12 private schools, Ziegler offers long-term, fixed-rate financing, tax-exempt financing and short-term, variable rate financing.
For more information about Ziegler, please visit us at http://www.Ziegler.com.
About Ziegler:
The Ziegler Companies, Inc., together with its affiliates (Ziegler), is a privately held, specialty investment bank with unique expertise in complex credit structures and advisory services. Nationally, Ziegler is ranked as one of the leading investment banking firms in its specialty sectors of healthcare, senior living, religion, and education, as well as general municipal and structured finance. Headquartered in Chicago, IL with regional and branch offices throughout the U.S., Ziegler provides its clients with capital raising, corporate finance, FHA/HUD, strategic advisory services and research. Ziegler serves institutional and individual investors through its wealth management and capital markets distribution channels.
Certain comments in this news release represent forward-looking statements made pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This client’s experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients, nor is it indicative of future performance or success. The forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, in particular, the overall financial health of the securities industry, the strength of the healthcare sector of the U.S. economy and the municipal securities marketplace, the ability of the Company to underwrite and distribute securities, the market value of mutual fund portfolios and separate account portfolios advised by the Company, the volume of sales by its retail brokers, the outcome of pending litigation, and the ability to attract and retain qualified employees.
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Leslie Weir, Ziegler, http://www.ziegler.com, +1 (312) 596-1646, [email protected]
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