Ticuantepe, Nicaragua - Pineapple Farm & Retreat Center
OVERVIEW
Ticuantepe is a small town just outside of the capital city of Managua, easily recognized by its panoramic views of the surrounding pineapple plantations. Los Rios is a small community within Ticuantepe that is spread along along a dirt road winding through a valley in the surrounding mountains. At the end of the road is a scenic rainforest preserve called El Chocoyero which is named after the resident population of tens of thousands of small parrots, but is also home to monkeys and other exotic wildlife, abundant tropical plant life, and a stunning waterfall. Just before entering the national park, a private cobblestone drive leads up to a retreat center that was built by our good friends Robbie and Murray Lathrop. The Lathrops spent nearly 15 years serving as missionaries in Nicaragua and building an incredible farm which was appropriately named Piñas de Paz, or Pineapples of Peace. Over the years, their farm became known by Christian leaders throughout Nicaragua as an ideal place to host retreats and off-site training, and also as a place to get a glimpse at sustainable farming and business-as-missions. The farm and ministry served as both a partner with the local churches and schools in the valley, as well as a hosting facility for US church-teams coming to lend a hand throughout the valley in a large effort towards poverty alleviation. Sitting on 29 acres with 7 cabins for hosting up to 70 people at a time, a commercial cook house, a game room, a dining pavilion, a prayer garden and so many other amenities, this is an incredible facility to spend time as group, allowing for ample space and basic accommodations, but more importantly immersion into the community and spiritual connection.
In mid-2019, we began talking with the Lathrops about the possibility of merging our work in Masatepe and their work in Los Rios in an effort to combine their team’s local expertise with our organization's operational experience, and focus on long-term sustainability under local leadership. Now, months later, we are excited to announce that the transition is now under way. We certainly want to respect what the Lathrops and their organization have built here over the years, which is why we will keep the name Piñas de Paz moving forward, but we also want to acknowledge that we are entering into a new season both more broadly in Nicaragua, and more specifically here at the farm. We’ve learned a lot through the years in our global work and will be bringing some of our management team from Masatepe over to help make this project a success.
INVESTMENT SUMMARY: Growth By Acquisition
This Investment is structured as a Recoverable Grant following an asset-based model, which will recycle the full investment in the event that the property and/or its assets are sold. This property is being purchased for roughly 25% of its current market value, making for a solid investment.
Tranche 1 (October 2020) funds the acquisition of the property and its assets, including 5 active staff members.
Tranche 2 (early 2021) funds the operations of the farm and the retreat center.
Key Metrics for Growth and Impact:
Acquire the property from prior ministry.
Get the farm up to full capacity based on its current potential.
Get the hosting facility to full capacity based on its current potential.
Create 10+ local jobs; multiplier effect of 4x equates to 40 livelihoods provided by these jobs.
Launch Ticuantepe as a 2nd community in Nicaragua where One Collective is carrying out integrated community transformation.
DEAL TERMS
Finances:
$100,000 total acquisition cost due to seller.
*Seller agrees to carry $50,000 of financing over an 8 year period following the date of acquisition, with the remaining $50,000 due at closing.
Beyond the initial acquisition cost, an additional $25,000 is estimated in operating cash to get the project to financial sustainability over an approximately 6 month period.
Current market value of the property and assets is estimated to be over $300,000, conservatively.
Assets Included:
29ac of land w/ improvements
8 cabins that are fully furnished, including hosting supplies and a commercial kitchen
5 vehicles
Farm equipment
Active staff of 5 highly trusted employees who have been with the ministry for many years
Terms:
The Lathrops built this farm and retreat center via funding through a faith-based charitable organization and they feel convicted that the property should be transferred to someone who will continue on with its missional purpose. In addition to their convictions, the real estate market in Nicaragua, since 2018, has been extremely depressed following a period of civil unrest and many foreigners leaving the country, including the Lathrops. The transfer taxes and associated fees of moving the property from their organization to our’s is estimated to cost ~$50,000, which is why we set the initial funds due at closing at that amount. The seller will use those funds to cover all transfer costs. The remaining $50,000, due over an 8-year period, is simply to recognize some value going back to the Lathrops symbolically. Since January of 2020, we have been working diligently with their staff and our legal counsel to line up the closing, which estimated to take place in May or June of 2020.
Summary:
The previous ministry hosted 15+ American groups a year at the farm for over a decade. Many of those groups wish to remain involved moving forward. For One Collective, gaining access to those networks is highly valuable. Our plan is to simultaneously build the hosting program alongside farming operations to get the project back to cash-flow positive as quickly as possible. Projections show that the hosting program can generate over $100,000/year from 2021 forward. The pineapple and dragonfruit operations currently generate an additional $15,000 in annual revenue, and there is much room for improvement in the current farming processes. We hope to transfer our experience with livestock from Masatepe to this farm and begin raising chickens and pigs in the mid-term. Once hosting and farming are back online, we will expand our focus to the community beyond the farm and on our core purpose of seeing integrated community transformation catalyzed alongside local leaders. We will deploy 2-3 American workers to live onsite and manage the project as soon as possible. With our experienced team in Masatepe only 30 minutes away, and our extensive in-country contacts, we believe we can steward this asset to be both cash-flow positive and transformational to the community of Ticuantepe for years to come.
