Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI) begins the New Year with more good news on the heels of the historic passage of TSPLOST and MARTA referenda. On December 29th, 2016, ABI, in partnership with City of Atlanta, Invest Atlanta and outside Bond Counsel, worked deep into the holiday break to successfully complete and close their first Bond Issuance since 2009, totaling more than $155,000,000. This new Bond Issue included refunding/refinancing of the existing 2008/2009 Bonds and clearing debt obligations to the city of Atlanta related to the resolution of PILOT payments to Atlanta Public Schools. It also created more than $50,000,000 in New Money to accelerate development of affordable housing, jobs and capital construction. The New Money Bonds include 15% set aside for Affordable Housing totaling more than $11 million, which when combined with the already committed ABI annual TAD increment of $2.2 million, is projected to provide more than $18,000,000 to support affordable housing over the next three years.
On October 12, 2016, the ABI Board of Directors adopted a Resolution to support the issuance of the Series 2016 City of Atlanta BeltLine Tax Allocation District (TAD) Bonds and to approve a prospective list of projects to be undertaken by ABI and funded in whole or in part by proceeds of the 2016 Bonds. The transaction will yield many important benefits to the BeltLine TAD and positions ABI to make continued progress on several key priorities, as well as provide increased funding to advance Affordable Housing efforts in the BeltLine TAD.
With the closing of the 2016 Bond Issue, the following projects will be implemented:
- ~ $11.68 million for Affordable Housing efforts in the BeltLine TAD, including:
- Developer Incentives
- Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) Set Aside – Developer Incentives
- Property Acquisition & Pre-Development
- Program Administration
- ~ $2.5 million for Economic Development opportunities in the BeltLine TAD
- Job Development
- Commercial Corridor Revitalization
- Planning & Programming
- ~ $40 million for Capital Projects:
- Design of Parks (4) & Trails (3) in Period 1 (FY14-FY18) from ABI’s Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP)
- Construction of two Trails and one Park in Period 1 (FY14-FY18) from ABI’s Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP)
- Open space programming around the Atlanta BeltLine, including Urban Agriculture and Performance Pavilion opportunities
While the entire list of Capital Projects adopted by the ABI Board of Directors exceeds $75.3 million, this $40 million from 2016 Bond Proceeds provides the foundational funding to match with other public and private funding sources to produce a significant impact on the program for advancing the Atlanta BeltLine.
“There is no doubt that, alongside the record-setting commitment of TSPLOST and transit funding, this is the most significant commitment of new funding we could make in addressing key Atlanta BeltLine equity and affordability issues, and we are pleased to see it come to fruition”, affirmed Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. Board Chair John Somerhalder. “We are encouraged to have received such a strong vote of confidence from the Bond markets.”
“This Bond transaction would not have occurred without the leadership and support of our sponsors at the City of Atlanta, Fulton County and Atlanta Public Schools,” stated Paul Morris, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. President and CEO. “The extraordinary collaboration and dedicated teamwork of all those involved in putting the transaction together at the City of Atlanta, Invest Atlanta, the ABI Board of Directors and our staff cannot be overstated”.
Also, contributing to the success of the 2016 Bond Issue, in early December, Moody’s Investors Service assigned an A2 rating to the City of Atlanta’s (GA) $146.3 million (amount prior to closing) BeltLine Tax Allocation Bonds, Series 2016 A, B, C, D, and E. Concurrently, Moody’s affirmed the A2 rating on the city’s outstanding BeltLine Tax Allocation Bonds, Series 2008 A, B, and C, and Beltline Tax Allocation Bonds, Series 2009 B and C. Moody’s cited that, “The A2 rating reflects the (BeltLine) district’s strong taxable value growth, sound senior lien coverage of maximum annual debt service by tax allocation increments and satisfactory legal protections for bondholders, which includes a 1.25 times additional bonds test and fully-funded debt service reserve.”
Media contact:
Ericka Brown Davis
Communications & Media Relations Director
(404) 477-3660, edavis@atlbeltline.org
