Funding a Treatment Center with a Self-Directed IRA

This Tennessee investor positively impacted a community, while benefiting and growing his retirement savings in the process.

Equity Trust client, Adam, works for an investment banking firm that helps middle-market clients raise capital. Several years ago, he was introduced to the concept of self-directed retirement accounts and learned he could use his retirement account to invest in small businesses.

Seizing an Investment Opportunity

A few years ago Adam’s firm was approached by the CEO of a substance abuse treatment company in search of a location to start a new residential treatment campus. Part of the company’s mission is to provide a large “campus” setting with recreational activities that support the treatment process.

“I wanted to help the company because they were successfully helping people and growing quickly,” Adam said.

After initially targeting smaller locations near their corporate office in Tennessee, the client identified a 40-acre property outside of Dallas, Texas that was home to a bed and breakfast. The bed and breakfast was under-performing at the time so it seemed like an opportunity worth pursuing.

Adam was interested in this opportunity as his first self-directed IRA investment because he “believed the investment would allow for the potential of a significant return in a short period of time because of the ability to refinance the property.”

Investing in a LLC

Adam, along with a group of other investors, invested in an LLC that would acquire the piece of real estate. Since the original bed and breakfast had no cash flow, the LLC borrowed against the property until they could generate cash flow again.

The investors’ LLC then leased the property to the substance abuse company, who renovated the property and started operations.

Fourteen months from the initial acquisition, the substance abuse facility was up and running and generating cash flow.

This was a critical juncture in Adam’s investment because, as anticipated, the loan the LLC had on the property was refinanced and the investors were repaid on their loan, resulting in a return of 65 percent in fourteen months.

A New Facility that “Feels Like Home”

Today, “The Treehouse” facility is a “private therapeutic retreat – rooted in the healing power of nature – that leads clients toward lasting recovery and freedom from addiction.”