The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York gave both preliminary and final approvals Wednesday to up to $1.4 billion of bonds for education, higher education, and health care projects at a board meeting in Albany.
The largest deal to receive final approval was $350 million of tax-exempt bonds on behalf of the New School, a private university in downtown Manhattan with 10,678 students enrolled.
The university plans to use most of the proceeds to build a 16-story building on Fifth Avenue. The facility will add 365,000 square feet of space, including an auditorium, library and a 608-bed dormitory on the top nine floors. Officials expect the building to open in 2013.
The New School may also use some of the funds to renovate three floors in a building it leases, and to refund $42.3 million of bonds issued in 1999 and 2001.
Barclays Capital and JPMorgan will lead manage the sale, which is expected to take place in mid-November.
The bonds will be offered as fixed rate, variable rate, or a combination of both with maturities of up to 40 years. Sidley Austin LLP is bond counsel.
The new issue will bring the school’s outstanding debt to $448 million. Standard & Poor’s rates the bonds A-minus with a stable outlook.
“The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the New School will continue to generate strong operating results on a full accrual basis, demand and enrollment will remain strong, and financial resources will remain steady,” Standard & Poors credit analyst Nick Waugh said in a rating report. “Any additional debt should be commensurate with a growth in financial resources.”
Moody’s Investors Service rates university’s outstanding bonds A2 with a stable outlook.
Also receiving final approval was the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private pre-K-12 all-girls school in Manhattan. The school, which has 692 students, plans to use the proceeds of up to $33 million of fixed-rate tax-exempt bonds for costs associated with a new athletic facility, including the refinancing of a $23 million loan for property acquisition.
Wells Fargo Securities will underwrite the deal and Harris Beach PLLC is bond counsel.
NYSARC Inc. a nonprofit that provides services to the developmentally disabled through 49 chapters in the state, received final approval for up to $49.4 million of bond proceeds to refund $43.9 million of outstanding bonds and finance new facilities. Raymond James & Associates Inc. is the underwriter on the bonds and Hiscock & Barclay LLP is bond counsel.
United Health Services Hospitals Inc. received final approval for a private placement of $22 million of bank-qualified tax-exempt bonds to finance a hospital extension. M&T Bank and Tompkins Trust Co. are each expected to purchase the bonds.
Columbia University received preliminary approval for $480 million of new-money and refunding bonds. It plans to use $300 million of bond proceeds to finance various projects, including its Manhattanville Campus — a planned $6.3 billion expansion north of the university’s main campus that has been controversial due to the expected use of eminent domain for property acquisition.
The New York State Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling in June that would have prevented the seizure of private property by the Empire State Development Corp. on behalf of Columbia. Some landowners who would lose their property have filed a petition for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
ESDC spokeswoman Elizabeth Mitchell said in an e-mail that the corporation opposes the filing.
Also receiving preliminary approval was $260.1 million of bonds on behalf of New York University and $191.4 million of bonds on behalf of NYU Hospitals Center Obligated Group.
