Burroughs & Chapin Uses $31.1 Million in JEDA Bonds to Refinance Development
Myrtle Beach, SC — Horry County
Burroughs & Chapin, the longtime Grand Strand developer, is using a $31,185,000 bond issue through the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority (JEDA) to refinance its investment in one of its landmark projects.
The $28,030,300 tax-exempt issue, combined with $3,155,000 taxable revenue bond issue, will refinance bonds previously issued by JEDA to finance extensive infrastructure work supporting several commercial enterprises located in Horry County. The original bonds were issued in 2002 and refinanced in 2007.
To accomplish the financings, Horry County cooperated with neighboring counties (Georgetown and Marion Counties) and the City of Myrtle Beach, to create a multi-county business park which includes about 1,550 non-contiguous parcels (totaling approximately 3,800 acres). A portion of the property tax revenues generated by the parcels in the park are used to pay the debt service on the bonds.
The majority of the properties in the multi-county business park are within 3-6 miles of both downtown Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach International Airport, and represent different commercial ventures, including retail, entertainment, resort/lodging and office space. The businesses that now occupy the business park provide 7,215 full-time jobs, 916 part-time jobs and 99 seasonal positions.
— J. Bratton Fennell, Chief Financial Officer at Burroughs & Chapin
Wells Fargo Securities, in Charlotte, North Carolina, acted as the Placement Agent.
“We’re pleased to help facilitate this refinancing on such favorable terms to Horry County and Burroughs & Chapin. These bonds were structured in such a way that, after each year’s debt service obligations were satisfied, available tax revenues generated in the park were used to pay down the principal of the outstanding bonds. That means the bonds get paid off as fast as possible,” said Michael Seezen, Bond Counsel with McNair Law Firm in Columbia.
“Our work with Burroughs & Chapin and Horry County has long been a good example of the power of private-public partnerships in business and industrial financing,” said Harry A. Huntley, CPA, Executive Director of JEDA in Columbia. “We’re happy to see it continue.”
